Damascus Gate
by Emma Barrows
Summary: One of the Gryffindors is kidnapped by Death Eaters...can she be found in time? Two friends' friendship tightens and they fall in love.
1. The Hogwarts Express

DAMASCUS GATE

CHAPTER ONE-THE HOGWARTS EXPRESS

I eagerly waited on platform 9 and ¾. This was it. Our last year at Hogwarts. I had to admit, I was so sad at the thought of leaving here. It had become like my second home.

I gently put my finger into my owls' cage and gently stroked her wing.

She looked up at me with her amber eyes and blinked. She was a pretty snow owl I named Mia.

I was waiting for my best friends Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, James Potter, Lily Evans and Peter Pettigrew.

"Kelly! There you are!" I heard Lily's voice cry happily as I saw her making her way through the sea of students. She finally reached me and gave me a tight hug.

"Ooh I'm so happy to see you!" she gushed.

She then showed me her left hand. "We're engaged!" she squealed.

It took me a minute to register what she had said.

"No way!" I cried happily. "When?"

"Over the summer," Lily said beaming now. Her cheeks were flushed pink from the cold.

"I'm so happy for you!" I squealed as we both jumped up and down.

"Don't tell me," James' voice came next. "She already blabbed it to you."

He arrived at Lily's side, flanked by Remus, Sirius and oddly, not Peter.

I grinned and nodded.

James draped an arm over Lily's shoulders.

"Well, then I suppose we're going to have to kill you," James teased grinning.

Lily playfully smacked him on the arm.

We began boarding the Hogwarts Express. A scarlet steam engine pulled the passenger cars.

We found a compartment and entered. Lily and James sat next to each other. On James' left was Sirius.

Sitting next to me was Remus.

My name is Kelly Richards. I'm 17 years old with shoulder length curly light auburn hair and green eyes. My hair had spiral curls in it. I was already dressed in the Gryffindor uniform and robe with a cloak around me because of the cold weather.

The glass window was slightly fogged from the cross between the cold air outside and the warm air inside the train.

Lily's auburn hair was pulled into a ponytail. She and James began kissing. Sirius' hazel eyes narrowed.

"Some of us are trying to enjoy the trip," he said.

James and Lily pulled apart.

"You're just sore because you don't have a girlfriend," James grinned.

Sirius muttered something and looked out the window.

"Hey," I said. "He'll find someone. I'm betting this year too."

Sirius gave me a grateful glance before returning his eyes onto the window.

"I have to admit," I added. "I don't feel like watching you two snog the entire way either."

Lily and James separated.

Remus leaned in close.

His blue eyes were locked on mine. He has short, wavy, thick dark brown hair.

"So how was your summer?" he asked softly.

"Fine," I muttered. "If you call watching your parents fawn over your little sister fun."

His expression changed to disbelief and remorse.

"They're still doing that?" he asked.

"Yep," I said biting my bottom lip. "Katie this…Katie that…"

"You aren't jealous are you?" James asked.

"No," I snapped sharply. "But how would you feel if all your parents did was talk about your little sister and hardly paid any attention to you?"

James immediately recoiled.

"I'm so sick of it," I continued. "I'm betting that once Katie gets a letter from Hogwarts, it'll be like Christmas had come early. I had to _work _to buy all of my books for school. Do you think my parents once offered to buy them for me? No. I had to keep a job working in Diagon Alley for months. I'm so thankful that Professor Dumbledore helped me as well. _He _bought me supplies and everything."

"He's such a great teacher," Lily said affectionately.

"I swear once I get out of here, I'm getting my own pad," I said bitterly. "They probably won't even notice I'm gone."

I got up and stretched.

"I'm going for a walk," I said as I got up and opened the compartment door. I stepped out into the corridor and took a walk toward the back.

I leaned against the railing that lined the corridor and stared out the window at the passing scenery.

I suddenly sensed someone standing close behind me. I turned around. It was Remus.

"You okay?" he asked gently.

I sighed.

"Yeah," I said. "I just needed to vent out."

"I understand," Remus said softly.

His Prefects badge caught the sunlight.

He put his hands on my shoulders and leaned in close, so that the sides of our faces were inches apart.

"Listen," he whispered in my ear. "I want to make sure that you know that Lily, James, Sirius and I care about you a lot okay? We would most certainly be upset if anything should happen to you. I'm sure you're parents care about you, but maybe they don't know what they're doing?"

I shrugged.

"Maybe," I muttered.

I turned around to face him. Our faces were inches apart now.

He was so kind and caring. He and I had become close during our first year. We had hit it off and became best friends. That's when I got to know Lily, James, Sirius and Peter.

"That could be," I said nodding. "But I hate it."

"I know," he said gently. "Maybe try talking with them? Send them an owl later."

I grinned.

"Good idea,"

He grinned back too.

I threw my arms around his neck and pulled him close. My chin rested on top of his shoulder. He was slightly taller than me so he had to bend down a bit. I felt his arms encircling me as well.

"Things'll be fine," he whispered in my ear. "You'll see."

I shut my eyes. He always managed to keep me calm. There was something about him that was soothing.

Shortly, we released each other.

"Come on back to the compartment," he said.

So we headed back.

"Everything okay?" Sirius asked looking up as we entered.

"Yes," I said smiling.

Remus and I took our seats.

We talked during the rest of the trip.

The castle loomed into view with its many turrets and towers. The lake shimmered under the sunlight.

Once we pulled into the station, carriages drawn by Threstrals met us to take us the rest of the way to the castle.

We climbed into a carriage and then we were on our way.

"I wonder what we're going to be learning this year?" Sirius mused.

"Well," Remus said. "James, Kelly and I took Apparition last year. So no doubt we'll be taking that up more. James passed the test so he can Apparate now, but Kelly and I didn't do so well. We had a bit of trouble."

"Kelly had trouble?" Sirius snickered. "I find that hard to believe."

"Shove it," I retorted. "Or I'll put my wand so far up your…"

"It's not that easy, Sirius," Remus interrupted. "Many of the students ended up Splinching themselves."

"Ouch," Lily cringed.

"I think we're getting a new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher?" James mused.

"I think so," I said nodding.

We arrived at the castle and climbed down out of the carriages.

We entered the castle and headed immediately to the Great Hall. A lot of First years were huddled nervously in the entrance hall.

"Poor saps," Sirius grinned conspiratorially.

"Don't even think about it," Lily groaned. "Don't start the year off tormenting first years like you did last year."

"It was fun," Sirius said pretending to pout. "James and I had a blast."

"Not the poor first years," I replied frowning. "You really scared one of them. I'm not sure if she even returned this year."

Sirius and James chuckled at their work while Lily, Remus and I took our seats at the Gryffindor table. Lily and I sat next to each other while Remus, James and Sirius sat across from us.

"You guys really need help," Lily muttered shaking her head.

"We're Coo Coo for Coca Puffs!" James cried.

"Got that right," Remus muttered out of the side of his mouth.

I chuckled.

James heard him and playfully punched him on the arm.

Professor Dumbledore arose from his seat at the Head table and began making his normal speech.

The first years then began getting sorted.

Once that was done, food appeared on our plates. Sirius and James hungrily dove in.

"You guys need bibs," Lily said disgustedly.

"Goo Goo," James said in a mock baby voice. "Chwange me mwommy?"

"To think," Lily said with an amused and annoyed expression on her face. "I'm engaged to you."

James just smirked.

A short while after that, Sirius let out a raspberry sounding noise that sounded like someone inflating a balloon, and then releasing it.

Gryffindor table was a mass of hysteria. Laughter, squeals of disgust floated across the Hall.

Sirius' cheeks flushed with color.

"Oh that's a surefire way to get a girlfriend, Sirius," Remus said deadpan. "By killing everyone within 5 meters away from the deadly detonation."

Well, we lost it.

I glanced up at the Head table.

Dumbledore was grinning and his blue eyes were twinkling behind his half moon spectacles.

The rest of the teachers were either laughing or shaking their heads.

Remus caught my eye and winked.

After that, we headed to the dorms.

Remus showed the first year boys the way to the boys' dorms while Robin Tanners, showed the girls their dorm.

We exchanged good-nights and I eagerly climbed into bed. I laid down and just stared up at the ceiling. Before long, I fell asleep and dreamed:

_I saw myself being dragged by my ankles through shrubs and mud. The person that was holding my ankles was shielded from view by a burgundy hooded cloak._

_I saw Dumbledore as well. Someone was holding him as well. They dropped me in front of Dumbledore. My uniform and robe were smudged with mud and bits of leaves._

_The figure pointed their wand at Dumbledore._

_"Nooo!" I screamed and dove in front of him. A jet of green light flashed._

I woke up screaming.

"Kelly!" I heard Lily's voice cry.

Lights switched on immediately.

Lily sat down beside me on the bed and gently grabbed my shoulders.

"What happened?" she demanded anxiously.

"I had a horrible dream," I sobbed slumping into her arms.

I proceeded to tell her about it.

"Oh," she said softly. "It was only a dream. Don't worry about it."

I was still shaking badly.

"Try and go back to sleep okay?" Lily said reassuringly.

I nodded and laid back down. The light went off, but I stayed awake for the rest of the night.

The next morning, at breakfast, I was so exhausted I could barely keep my eyes opened.

"Are you alright?" Remus asked worriedly beside me.

"She had a nightmare last night," Lily explained.

REMUS.

Kelly looked absolutely exhausted.

"I couldn't go back to sleep after that," Kelly explained yawning.

"What happened?" James asked worriedly.

Kelly slumped against me, with her head resting on my shoulder. Her hair brushed against my cheek.

I looked down at her. She had dozed off.

"She dreamed that someone kidnapped her and Dumbledore and turned their wand onto Dumbledore but she intervened," Lily explained.

"It was probably nothing," Sirius said eyeing Kelly leaning against me asleep.

She snuggled up against me but didn't even open her eyes.

Sirius picked up a roll and prepared to launch it at her.

"Don't even think about it," I scolded narrowing my eyes. "Leave her be."

"Someone's got to wake her up after breakfast," James said reasonably. "Both of you will be late for class."

"Then we'll be late," I said firmly. "Let her get some sleep at least."

James, Lily and Sirius exchanged smug and knowing grins.

"What?" I asked raising an eyebrow at them.

"Nothing," Lily said sweetly. "We'll tell Professor Anicks what happened."

I eyed them suspiciously as Lily and James began whispering to each other. Sirius was thoughtfully chewing on a sausage.

I glanced down at Kelly sleeping peacefully now. I felt a smile forming on my face.

I heard Sirius humming the tune to the song when kids tease each other about "Kissing in the Tree".

That set James off chuckling.

This time, I picked up a roll and launched it at Sirius.

It hit him squarely in the face.

Lily almost choked on her eggs. Sirius went to retaliate, but I pointed to Kelly.

"I'll get you later, Moony," Sirius grinned wickedly.

"I'm shaking," I said mockingly.

The bell rang, ending breakfast. Sirius, James and Lily got up and left with the other students.

I gently touched Kelly on the cheek.

"Kelly? It's time to wake up," I said gently.

Kelly stirred and opened her eyes.

"Oh God," she said looking embarrassed. "I'm so sorry."

"Don't apologize," I said softly. "You were tired."

"We're going to be late," Kelly said panicked.

"Don't worry. Lily's explaining it to Professor Anicks," I explained.

We got up and hurried to Potions class.


	2. The Scare

DAMASCUS GATE

CHAPTER TWO-THE SCARE

We entered Potions class and took our seats.

Kelly and I sat next to each other as the rest of the seats were taken.

Professor Anicks began writing on the board the instructions for today's lesson.

"Hey," Kelly said suddenly turning to me. "Where's Peter? I've completely forgotten about him."

"Peter is missing for some reason," James whispered turning around in his seat to face us. "He just vanished completely. We have no idea where he is."

"Sheesh," Kelly said. "I had almost completely forgotten about him."

"You're not the only one," Sirius muttered darkly behind us.

In front of us were James and Lily. Behind Remus and I were Sirius and another 7th year Gryffindor named Elaine Davis.

I turned around and gave Sirius a scowl before returning to my Haxen Potion.

After class, we headed back to the common room for the 45 minute break.

Lily and James headed off to the library. Sirius curled up on the couch.

Remus and I took a walk around the castle. As we entered one of the connecting bridges that connected one part of the castle to the next, we bundled our cloaks around ourselves. A cold blast of air blew through the opened windows. Our breaths came out in puffs of steam and rose to the sky.

"I can't believe Peter is missing," I mused.

"I know," Remus said. "It's odd really. Peter was supposed to meet us in Diagon Alley a few weeks ago to get school supplies. He never showed up, but someone told Lily, James, Sirius and I that he went missing a few weeks before that. So we're genuinely confused. That person had to know something about Peter's disappearance no?"

I nodded.

"Yes," I admitted. "It does sound suspicious."

"Can I tell you my theory?" Remus asked as we stopped walking and faced each other.

"Sure," I said.

"Please don't tell the others," he said imploringly. "They'll only laugh and call me paranoid."

"You can trust me," I said earnestly.

Remus sighed and went over to the window. He crossed his arms on top of the sill, looking out at the afternoon sky. The grounds were dry and dead leaves blew around the grass. In some spots, the grass was brown.

I stood next to him.

"I have this feeling," Remus continued quietly, keeping his gaze on the lake. "That You-Know-Who is powerful and is gathering followers. I mean, I'm not sure Peter would go, but I'm not sure he wouldn't."

"That totally makes sense," I said softly.

"Really?" he asked turning to face me. "It doesn't sound far fetched?"

"No," I said shaking my head. "Why not? I've got a bad feeling as well."

Remus raised an eyebrow at me.

"You're not just saying that to humor me?"

I smiled and shook my head.

"You've known me for what? 6? 7 Years now? Have I ever humored you?"

Remus smiled and shook his head.

"Okay then," I beamed. "Let's head back to the common room okay?"

He beamed back and we continued on our way.

We went to the rest of our classes.

Before dinner, I headed up to the Owlery to send Mum and Dad a letter.

"Not that they're going to care," I muttered to myself as I attached the letter to Mia's leg.

She extended her wings and took flight effortlessly.

I heard someone behind me.

"Who's there? Sirius? I'll kill you if I find out it's you," I scolded.

I turned around.

No one there.

Shrugging, I turned back around and bent down to pick up my bag when someone grabbed me from behind and placed a cloth over my nose and mouth. I screamed but it was muffled.

Shortly, I felt my eyelids getting heavy and blackness swallowed me up.

REMUS.

I began getting worried. Kelly hadn't returned from the Owlery yet.

"Let's go check on her," I said to Lily.

Lily and I headed from the common room and up to the Owlery.

We entered the Owlery.

We saw Kelly lying on her side in the straw on the ground. One arm was stretched out while the other was draped over her side. Her hair had fallen over her face and bits of straw clung to her auburn hair.

"Kelly," I said as I dropped to my knees and skidded on the straw a few inches.

Lily dropped to her knees also.

I gently turned her over onto her back.

"She's got a pulse," Lily said feeling Kelly's neck.

"Good," I said relieved.

"Mmmf?" Kelly's voice came out groggily.

"Kelly?" I demanded worriedly. "What happened?"

"Remus? Lily?" Kelly asked as we helped her sit up. "What happened?"

"You tell us," Lily said eyeing her with concern.

"I came up here to send a letter to Mum and Dad when someone grabbed me from behind and placed a cloth over my nose and mouth," Kelly said as we helped her get to her feet.

Lily pulled bits of straw out of Kelly's hair.

"Did you see who it was?"

Kelly shook her head.

"No," she cringed. "But my head feels like a firecracker had gone off in it."

She rubbed her forehead.

"There's a cloth on the floor," Lily said eagerly pointing.

I picked it up.

"Let's go to Dumbledore,"

We headed to Dumbledore's office.

"What can I do for you three?" he asked, his blue eyes twinkling behind his half moon spectacles.

"Kelly was attacked," I said.

Immediately, pure concern filled his expression.

"Sit," he said gesturing to one of the comfy pouf chairs in front of his desk. Kelly sat down.

Professor Dumbledore arose from his seat and came around to the front of his desk and peered at Kelly.

"What happened?" he demanded.

Kelly began telling him what she told us.

"Here's the cloth, sir," I said handing Dumbledore the cloth.

Dumbledore pulled out his wand and waved it over the cloth.

"This cloth has been doused with Muggle Chloroform," he said.

"Oh my God," Lily breathed wide-eyed.

"Did you see your attacker?" Professor Dumbledore asked keeping his blue eyes on Kelly.

"No sir," she replied shaking her head. "He came up from behind me."

"I'm issuing a curfew," Professor Dumbledore said firmly. "No one is to leave the common room after 9 P.M."

We nodded.

"I want you to go to Madam Elkin to get checked over," Dumbledore said to Kelly.

"I'm okay, sir," she said smiling.

Dumbledore shook his head.

"I don't care. Go get checked over,"

Kelly nodded.

We knew better than to argue with him.

"Let me know if anything unusual happens," Dumbledore said urgently.

"We will sir," Lily said softly.

So we got up and left his office.

Obediently, Kelly went to Madam Elkins to get checked over. She was alright.

We headed back to the common room.

"Is everything alright?" James demanded worriedly.

We explained what happened to him.

"Shit," Sirius said wide-eyed.

Lily gave him a reproving glare, but nodded.

Kelly sat down on the couch.

I hefted the pants legs up to my slacks and crouched down in front of her.

"That was the most frightening thing I've ever been through," Kelly said shivering.

"I'm sure," Sirius said putting an arm around her shoulders.

"We're here if you want to talk," I said staring up into her face.

Kelly smiled.

"Thanks. I'm heading to bed now. I'm exhausted,"

She got up and left the common room.

"We've got to keep an eye on her," James said.

"I agree," Sirius said nodding.

"There was a reason why that person attacked her…but why?" I mused standing up and pacing the common room.

"Not sure," Lily said.

So we all headed off to bed.

KELLY.

I fell asleep and dreamed again:

_I saw Dumbledore and I chained to a wall in some sort of dungeon._

_Someone was speaking to a gray wolf standing on all fours not to far from where we were chained._

_"Kill them," the voice hissed. It sounded almost like a snake._

_The wolf came into view. It was Remus._

_The wolfs ears flattened out sideways and it charged for me, the canines and incisors gleaming. I felt the teeth sink into my neck. I screamed._

I woke up screaming.

"Again!" Lily's voice asked worriedly.

The light was turned on and she appeared at my side.

"Kelly? What happened this time?" she asked.

I kept screaming and couldn't stop.

"Someone get McGonagall!" I heard a girls' voice cry.

Someone ran from the girl's dorm.

REMUS.

I heard screaming coming from the girls' dorm. Being a werewolf gave me extra sensitive hearing. I immediately snapped awake and switched on my light. I was in a pair of navy plaid flannel lounge pants and a white tee-shirt.

I swung my legs over the side of the bed and stood up. I realized even Sirius' was awake.

We headed out of the boys dorm and into the common room, where Kelly was sitting and thrashing on the couch, being held down by Lily and Professor McGonagall.

"What's going on?" I demanded anxiously, peering from Kelly to Lily, to McGonagall.

"Please go on back to bed, Mr. Lupin," McGonagall said gently but firmly.

"No," I said folding my arms over my chest. "What's going on? What's wrong with Kelly?"

"She had another nightmare," Lily explained swallowing. "This must've been real bad because she went into a fit."

"Let me help," I said as I went over to Kelly and gently but firmly sat down on the couch and turned her back against my chest. I pinned my arm under her throat and with my free arm, wrapped it around her midsection just below her chest pinning her arms at her sides. She stopped thrashing.

She was breathing heavily. Her head rested back against my chest.

McGonagall was now able to give her a sip of a potion that no doubt must've been the Calming Draught.

I felt Kelly's body relaxing against mine.

I loosened my grip a bit.

"What happened, Miss Richards?" Professor McGonagall asked worriedly.

Kelly didn't reply.

"Kelly? Please tell us what happened," Lily pleaded in a calm tone.

"I had a dream that Dumbledore and I were chained to a wall somewhere and this person was telling this gray wolf to attack us," Kelly choked out. "I felt the teeth sinking into my skin before I woke up."

Lily and I exchanged looks.

"I assure you that nothing will happen to you or Professor Dumbledore," McGonagall said reassuringly and gently. "Has this been the only nightmare you've had?"

"No," I said turning my eyes onto Professor McGonagall. "She had one similar earlier."

"Okay," McGonagall said. "Just try and get some sleep again. If anything else should happen, don't hesitate to let me know okay?"

We nodded and she left.

I slowly released Kelly.

She leaned forward with her elbows resting on her thighs and buried her face in her hands.

"Why am I dreaming this?" she muttered. "You must think I'm a freak of some sort."

"Not at all," Sirius said sitting across from us on the chair. "There's obviously a reason for it."

"But what could that be?" Lily asked turning her eyes onto Sirius.

"That I don't know," Sirius mused. "But there's a definite reason."

"But if it was just a nightmare, why go into a fit?" Lily mused.

"That I don't know either," Kelly replied. "It seems the stronger the dream, the stronger my reaction to it is."

"Are you going to be okay?" Sirius asked.

Kelly nodded without raising her head.

Sirius put a hand on her shoulder before heading back to the boy's dorm.

Lily rubbed Kelly's back before she too, headed back to the girls' dorm.

I stood up and stretched. Kelly did too.

"Maybe the reason you're dreaming about Dumbledore is because you have a crush on him," I teased her trying to make her laugh.

Kelly just gave me a stiff look.

"You're joking at a time like this?"

Immediately, I felt guilty.

"No, I was just trying to cheer you up," I said looking upset that I had upset her.

"How can I be cheerful when I'm having these horrible nightmares?" Kelly demanded.

"I'm sorry…" I began but she cut me off.

"Good-night, Moony,"

With that, she headed off back to the girls' dorm leaving me standing there completely upset.

I remained in the common room, unable to sleep. I kept pacing back and forth trying to understand what had just happened, and trying to come with an idea as to why she was having these nightmares.

I even turned to my textbooks. I was sitting at the table pouring over my textbooks when exhaustion finally took over. I ended up falling asleep with my right cheek pressing against the page in the book.


	3. The Fight

DAMASCUS GATE

CHAPTER THREE-THE FIGHT

I felt someone shaking my shoulders roughly.

"Hmmf?" I asked groggily as I slowly raised my head. The page briefly sticking to my cheek.

"Moony? You fell asleep here in the common room?" Sirius' voice asked concerned.

"Sirius? What time is it?" I asked yawning as I sat up and stretched my arms above my head.

"Eight O'clock," Sirius said.

My eyes widened.

"I missed Charms!" I cried as I became fully alert now and scrambled to gather my books and things.

"Chill," Sirius said grinning. "We told Professor Dawes that you weren't feeling well. You're in time for Potions class though in like twenty minutes."

I relaxed and stuffed all my books into my bag.

"Oh good! He's awake!" Lily said as she, James and Kelly came into the common room through the portrait hole.

"What on earth were you doing?" James asked as he sat down on the couch. Lily sat beside him. Kelly went over to the chair and flopped down.

"I was looking through my books to see if they gave a reason as to why Kelly was having these nightmares," I said keeping my eyes on Lily.

"Did you find a solution?" Sirius asked intrigued.

I shook my head.

"Well that settles it then," Sirius said grinning as he stood next to the chair and leaned in to Kelly. She pulled back with a disgusted expression on her face. "You're wacko."

"Have you ever heard of a breath mint?" Kelly asked waving her hand in front of her face.

"I just woke up babe," Sirius said grinning. "Get used to it. This is what I look like in the morning."

"In that case I'm going to have to make sure I'm either blinded naturally, or I'll have to poke my eyes out with my own wand," Kelly said.

James, Lily and Sirius laughed good-naturedly.

"But I think Remus takes the cake," James teased grinning at me. "Talk about sticking your finger in an electrical socket."

I absentmindedly raised a hand to my hair. Some of it was standing on end.

KELLY.

I felt an overwhelming twinge of guilt for the way I treated Remus last night. I knew he was just trying to help me and cheer me up.

He stayed up practically the entire night reading for me.

Remus scowled at James before heading off to the boys' dorm. He came back with a fresh uniform and robe and headed toward the portrait entrance.

"Where are you going man?" Sirius called.

"To shower and change. Unlike some people I despise smelling like what I change into," Remus said meaningfully as he left the common room.

"Did you have another nightmare?" Lily asked turning to me.

I shook my head.

"No, thankfully,"

"That's good," James said. "Maybe they're going to stop?"

I shrugged one shoulder.

Remus came back shortly freshly showered and wearing a clean robe and uniform.

His hair was neatly combed. I got a whiff if Irish Spring soap when he passed me.

He bent over and gathered his school bag. He swung it onto a shoulder.

"Let's head to class," he said as he glanced at me with a cold expression before walking back toward the portrait.

James and Sirius followed him. Lily and I followed shortly.

"Did something happen last night between you and Remus?" she asked quietly. She had a strange grin on her face though.

"If you mean I made a complete fool of myself…yes," I muttered.

Lily's expression dropped.

"What happened?"

"Remus tried to cheer me up and I blew up at him," I said sighing.

"Oh," Lily said. "He knows you didn't mean it."

"I'm not so sure," I said swallowing. "That look he gave pretty much said it all."

Lily swung an arm around my shoulders.

"How about if I talk to him for you?"

"Would you?" I asked hopefully.

She nodded.

I cheered up slightly.

After Potions, we headed out onto the grounds for a bit.

The sky was gray and the scent of snow could be detected easily.

We all sat around the large oak tree. I stayed with James and Sirius while Lily pulled Remus aside and talked to him.

REMUS.

Lily pulled me aside. We were standing by the lake. Small waves rippled across the lake surface as a gust of wind blew, whipping my cloak around my legs.

I cupped my hands and blew into them, trying to generate heat. My breath rose up in puffs of steam and rose to the sky.

The wind whipped Lily's hair around her face.

"Remus, Kelly didn't mean to blow up at you like that last night. She feels completely upset now," Lily said.

"I have to admit, that wasn't the right time to joke," I said doing a little jig in place to keep warm.

"That's just your way of cheering someone up. Thank God you're not like Sirius," Lily said rolling her eyes. "Everything to him is a complete joke…but you have a serious tone but you also have a sense of humor. You were just trying to make Kelly feel better about the nightmares."

I sighed.

"I still feel bad about it,"

"Don't," Lily said firmly. "Go talk to her alright? I'll send her over."

She headed back over to the oak tree. I saw her lean down and whisper to Kelly. Kelly nodded and got up. She began walking toward me.

Again I blew into my hands.

Kelly stood in front of me and hugged her cloak around her tighter. The hood was up slightly shielding her eyes from view.

"I'm sorry…"

"I should've never…"

We both began at the same time. Chuckling at the same time, Kelly was the first to speak.

"Go ahead," she said.

"I'm sorry for teasing you like that," I said.

"I'm should've never blown up at you like that. I know you were just trying to help," Kelly said lowering her eyes, making her seem almost ghostly.

"Let's just forget it," I suggested.

Kelly raised her eyes and nodded.

"Okay," she said and smiled.

I smiled back.

She and I headed back over to the oak tree. James, Sirius and Lily looked up.

"Everything okay now?" Lily asked grinning coyly.

"Yes," I said nodding.

"Good," James said.

After that, we headed back into the castle. We pulled off our cloaks and left them in the common room.

We headed to the rest of the classes.

KELLY.

I felt much better after talking with Remus. Things were back to normal between us.

He was laughing and joking around with Sirius and James.

That night at dinner, we sat around the Gryffindor table talking about the upcoming holidays.

"So where do you plan on staying for Christmas?" Sirius asked me.

"Dunno," I said shrugging as I helped myself to some pork chops. "Knowing my parents, they won't even send me an invitation to come home."

I saw a flash of pain across Remus' expression.

"So you have no plans for Christmas?" James asked stunned.

"Let me think…" I said pretending to think. "Eh, no."

"Shit," Sirius said shaking his head.

"You must stay with me," Lily said brightly. "My parents would love to have you."

"So would mine," Remus offered.

"Mine too," Sirius added.

I grinned.

"Thanks you guys," I said, sighing. "But I think I'm going to stay here at the castle."

"Then I'm staying," Remus said firmly.

"Me too," Lily said.

We looked at James and Sirius.

"Unfortunately, my parents are expecting me home. I've got to spend time with my grandmum. She's sick so I have to go home," Sirius said looking guilty.

"Why are you guilty? I think that's sweet," Lily said stunned.

"And my parents said they have a big engagement surprise for me," James said looking at Lily. "I have to go too."

Lily pretended to pout.

"Fine," she said but grinned.

James grinned back.

I had to admit I felt a twinge of jealousy at Lily and James. I still didn't have a boyfriend. I wanted to get married and everything. But at this rate, it didn't look like it.

My appetite suddenly vanished and I began pushing the food around on my plate.

"What's wrong?" Remus asked leaning forward. He was sitting across from me.

"Nothing," I said forcing a smile.

Remus studied me but then went back to his meal.

What I loved about him was the fact that he didn't push you into telling him anything. He left it up to you if you wanted to tell him.

Suddenly, my eyes slid out of focus and I went rigid in my seat.

A bright light flashed before my eyes. I saw James arguing with someone, but I couldn't make it out. I saw James pull out his wand and aim it at the person. A jet of green light shot out from the tip of James' wand.

The flash vanished. My body jumped and my eyes slid back into focus.

No one seemed to notice what had happened except Remus.

"What happened?" he whispered looking alarmed.

I whispered to him what I saw.

Remus looked upset.

James excused himself after finishing off a third baked potato.

Remus and I also got up and followed him.

"Why are you following me?" James asked turning around.

"We're full as well," Remus said quickly. "We're just taking a walk to walk off all that extra weight we just put on."

I nodded.

Just then, a Slytherin named Derek Hanes approached us. He was a well known bully and loved to start fights with James.

"Hey," Derek said smirking. "Where are the Gryffindorks going?"

"Shut up," James snapped folding his arms over his chest.

"And look," Derek said moving his eyes onto me. "The Mutt."

"I'm warning you," James said threateningly. "Shut your pie hole."

"Or what, Potter?" Derek said challengingly back to him. "You'll do what?"

James pulled out his wand and aimed it at Derek.

"I'll curse you into oblivion," James snarled narrowing his hazel blue eyes behind his glasses.

"James," Remus said in a low warning tone.

But James ignored him.

"You have such a big head," Derek continued. "Just because you're the star of Gryffindor doesn't mean you can break rules."

"And you're the most self conceited, arrogant twit I've ever met that loves to torment others because by your standards aren't measuring up to what you think is a witch or wizard," I said angrily to Derek.

Derek pulled out his wand and aimed it at me.

Remus immediately pulled out his wand and aimed it at Derek.

"Don't start," Remus said threateningly.

"And the perfect Prefect," Derek smirked at Remus. "You're such a goody-goody."

Derek turned his eyes back onto me.

"Too bad your parents could care less about you," Derek said. "I guess that's what they get for marrying each other. They bring a Mutt into the world that to everyone that matters is basically vapor…a waste of breathing space."

Those words stung tremendously.

"_CRUCIO!_" James snarled aiming his wand at Derek.

Derek ducked and turned his wand onto me next.

"_Avada Kedavra!_" Derek shouted.

I saw the jet of green light coming at me.

The next thing I knew, Remus roughly shoved me to the side. The jet of light hit him directly in the chest.

Remus' wand fell from his hand. He dropped to his knees before falling to his side. One arm was stretched out, while the other was draped over his side.

"REEEMUUUS!" I screamed at the top of my lungs.

James opened fired back at Derek with a "_Petrifiucs Totalus_" charm.

Derek fell backward petrified.

Remus wasn't moving.

I dropped to my knees next to him and gently turned him over onto his back.

His eyes were closed.

"NOOOOO!" I howled.

"What's going on?" a voice cried from the Great Hall's double doors.

Professor McGonagall and Professor Dumbledore stood.

I grabbed a handful of Remus' robe and pressed my face deeply into his chest. I began crying hysterically.

James sank to his knees and I heard him drop his wand.

"What on earth happened?" Professor McGonagall repeated as she and Dumbledore hurried over to us.

I couldn't let go of Remus' robe. I shut my eyes tighter against the robe. No longer will Remus joke and laugh with us. I could only cry harder and more hysterically.

I heard James explaining what happened to McGonagall in a strained voice.

I felt someone's hand on my shoulder.

I didn't even raise my eyes, but I knew it was Professor Dumbledore.

"I'm so sorry," I heard Dumbledore whisper in my ear.

I gathered more of Remus' robe and pressed my face deeper into his lifeless chest.


	4. Back In Time

Damascus Gate

Chapter Four-Back In Time

I had gone into shock.

Professor Dumbledore led us up to his office.

Lily sobbed uncontrollably and James put his arm around her shoulders comfortingly.

Sirius was also in shock.

"I'm so sorry about Remus," Professor Dumbledore said quietly. "I assure you though, that Mr. Hanes will be dealt with severely. As unfortunately, Mr. Potter will be."

"What's going to happen?" Lily sobbed raising her eyes to Professor Dumbledore.

"I'm afraid that both Mr. Potter and Mr. Hanes will be sent to Azkaban," he said gravely and solemnly. "They both used The Unforgivable Curses at the same time. They knew the consequences of what would happen if they used them."

"We're engaged!" Lily sobbed. "There has to be something you can do!"

Professor Dumbledore scratched his beard thoughtfully.

"I can speak to the Ministry about possibly lightening his sentence…he may only have to serve 6 months as apposed to life. I will see what I can do,"

Lily only sobbed harder.

"It's my fault," James said his voice shaking. "I used the Crucio curse, Lil. I have to be punished."

"So did Derek! He aimed his wand at Remus and openly used the Killing curse!" Sirius yelled snapping out of the shock.

"He aimed it at me!" I screamed also snapping to life. "REMUS DIED TO SAVE ME!"

They raised their eyes to meet mine.

"IT'S MY FAULT HE'S DEAD!" I screamed.

"Will you three please excuse us?" Dumbledore said quietly. "I wish to speak to Miss Richards alone. Mr. Potter, please wait downstairs. Tell Professor McGonagall to wait with you. The Ministry should be arriving shortly."

Sirius, James and Lily left the office. I began pacing Dumbledore's office.

"Miss Richards," Dumbledore began softly. "I'm sure Remus knew what he was doing. He saved you."

"HE STILL DIED!" I screamed. "I INSTIGATED DEREK! IF I HAD NOT, HE WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN INCLINED TO START THE DUEL!"

"He might've anyway," Dumbledore said reasonably. "We don't know that."

"I MISS HIM SO MUCH!" I cried breaking down. I dropped to my knees and hugged myself, rocking back and forth. My hair fell over my face.

Professor Dumbledore got up from behind his desk and crouched down in front of me.

He moved his hand in front of me and opened the palm of his hand. I slowly raised my eyes.

In the palm of his hand, was a small hour-glass necklace.

A Time-Turner.

"Go back and save Remus," Dumbledore said quietly. "You know the rules of time travel."

Shocked, I slowly reached for it.

"One turn should be suffice," Dumbledore said as he got up and took his seat again behind the desk.

I swung it around my neck and turned it once.

Immediately, Dumbledore's office blended away and it felt like I was being sucked into a whirl pool.

Finally, my surroundings came back into focus. I was in Dumbledore's office again, but he wasn't there.

Quickly, I tucked the Time-Turner into my robe and tore from the office. I checked my watch. James would be leaving the Great Hall in a matter of 3 minutes. I entered the corridor where the 'battle' would take place and I found a closet. I pulled out my wand and opened the door a crack.

Sure enough, James was walking into view.

Then, I saw Remus and I walking behind him.

"Why are you following me?" James asked turning around.

"We're full as well," Remus said quickly. "We're just taking a walk to walk off all that extra weight we just put on."

I saw myself nod.

I felt a lump of tears rising in my throat when I saw Remus.

Just then, Derek began walking toward Remus, James and myself. It was a bit creepy seeing yourself like this.

"Hey," Derek said smirking. "Where are the Gryffindorks going?"

"Shut up," James snapped folding his arms over his chest.

"And look," Derek said moving his eyes onto me. "The Mutt."

"I'm warning you," James said threateningly. "Shut your pie hole."

"Or what, Potter?" Derek said challengingly back to him. "You'll do what?"

James pulled out his wand and aimed it at Derek.

"I'll curse you into oblivion," James snarled narrowing his hazel blue eyes behind his glasses.

"James," Remus said in a low warning tone.

But James ignored him.

"You have such a big head," Derek continued. "Just because you're the star of Gryffindor doesn't mean you can break rules."

"And you're the most self conceited, arrogant twit I've ever met that loves to torment others because by your standards aren't measuring up to what you think is a witch or wizard," I saw myself say angrily, my eyes flashing dangerously.

Derek pulled out his wand and aimed it at me standing next to Remus.

Remus immediately pulled out his wand and aimed it at Derek.

"Don't start," Remus said threateningly.

"And the perfect Prefect," Derek smirked at Remus. "You're such a goody-goody."

Derek turned his eyes back onto me.

"Too bad your parents could care less about you," Derek said. "I guess that's what they get for marrying each other. They bring a Mutt into the world that to everyone that matters is basically vapor…a waste of breathing space."

Those words stung tremendously still after I heard them again.

_This is it. _I thought.

I slipped my wand through the crack and whispered, "_Stupefy_!" at the same time I heard and saw James say "_Crucio_!"

I saw Derek go down.

James looked confused as he stood over Derek.

"Someone stunned him," James said awed. "But we didn't hear or see anyone else."

"Weird," Remus said slipping his wand back into his pocket.

I saw myself crouch down beside Derek.

"James, you still used one of the Unforgivable Curses," I said to him. "That means you will get sent to Azkaban."

"What will Lily think?" Remus asked.

Not waiting around, I turned the Time-Turner again and was immediately spun from the spot. I arrived back in Dumbledore's office. He was sitting patiently behind his desk.

"Is the task complete?" he asked, his blue eyes twinkling behind his half moon spectacles.

I nodded.

"James will still be sent to Azkaban, but for a short while because you used the Stupefy charm but as no one else heard you only James, I'm sure that the Ministry will be somewhat lenient to him," Dumbledore said gently.

He got up from behind his desk and stood beside me.

An overwhelming sensation came over me. I threw my arms around Dumbledore's midsection and hugged him.

He momentarily seemed stunned and shy, but patted me on the back nonetheless.

"Go and see your friends," Dumbledore whispered.

Grinning, I released him and tore from his office.

REMUS.

I had gone to the common room and sat down in front of the fireplace. I stared into the warm crackling fire.

James was being spoken to by Professor Dumbledore after using the Crucio curse. Lily was with him because of the engagement. The Ministry had arrived a short while ago. They were all in Dumbledore's office.

Sirius went to the library to study. No doubt he spied a pretty girl in there and wanted to hit on her. Because studying was the last thing Sirius did unless there was a 'good' reason.

At that moment, Kelly entered the common room.

I looked up.

"Hey, Kel," I said.

Kelly remained standing. She was staring at me.

"Where'd you go after Derek was stunned in the corridor? You just took off for some reason," I said standing up and walking over to her.

She didn't reply, but she continued to stare at me.

I stood in front of her. Because I was a bit taller, I had to lower my head a bit so we were eye level.

"Are you alright?" I asked concerned.

I saw a glistening of tears in her green eyes.

"I'm fine," she said offering me a smile. "I'm just worried about James and what will happen to him. What on earth possessed him to use one of those curses?"

We turned around and headed back over to the couch. I sat down and tucked one leg beneath me. I draped my arm over the back of the couch and faced Kelly.

"He was just sticking up for you," I said. "But he really should've been more careful about the spell. He knows what happens if anyone uses those dreadful curses."

"But now what about Lily and James' engagement? He'll be in Azkaban…the Dementors will suck the happiness from him," Kelly said worriedly.

"I think the Ministry will put him in a different ward," I said thoughtfully. "There are two wards…one for the really hard criminals…and then a ward for the 'petty' criminals where those that use the Unforgivable Curses go. The Dementors normally patrol the hard criminals…those that killed someone."

"That's probably where Derek would've ended up," I heard Kelly mutter under her breath.

"What?" I asked leaning close.

"N-nothing," Kelly said shaking her head.

I put a hand on hers as the portrait entrance opened.

KELLY.

Remus' hand was on top of mine. Warm and solid…alive.

Remus' blue eyes moved onto who was coming into the common room. I too, raised my eyes. It was Lily and Sirius.

"The Ministry's taken him," Lily said in a monotone. "He'll be sent to Azkaban for 6 months."

"Tis better than life," Sirius said. "He'll be out in June of next year."

"We've postponed our wedding until then," Lily continued flopping down on a chair. Sirius sat down next to her.

"That was the best Dumbledore could negotiate with the Ministry," Sirius continued. "He'll be alright Lily."

Sirius put a hand on her shoulder.

Lily sighed and began sobbing softly. Sirius put his arm around her and gave her a squeeze.

Remus glanced at me and kept his hand over mine.

We all headed to bed.

Oddly and thankfully, I didn't have another dream.

I awoke feeling a bit refreshed than I did yesterday, knowing that was all behind me now. Remus was alive now.

I sat down at Gryffindor table next to Sirius. Lily and Remus sat across from us.

"Morning," I said.

"Morning," Remus said. "No more nightmares?"

_You have no idea what nightmare I was able to erase yesterday _I thought to myself.

"No," I said forcing a grin.

That still very much upset me, even though I fixed it.

Remus raised an eyebrow and studied me.

"I'm sorry," Lily apologized. "I don't have much of an appetite."

She got up and left the Hall.

"Keep an eye on her," Remus said to Sirius.

Sirius nodded, grabbed several breakfast rolls and took off after her, stuffing one roll into his mouth as he went.

Remus turned his blue eyes onto me.

"Something's bothering you," he ventured softly. "Please tell me."

I picked up my fork and speared a sausage. I dropped it onto my plate.

"Okay," I said giving in. "But please don't tell Sirius or Lily. It would only upset her more."

Remus nodded.

"I promise," he said holding up a hand.

I launched into the whole story.

He didn't interrupt me while I was talking which, I was grateful for. When I was done, he was silent.

"So Derek was about to use the Killing Curse on you but I shoved you out of the way?" he asked slowly taking it all in.

"Yes," I said chewing on my French toast.

"Kelly," Remus said. "I would do the same thing again. I care about my best friends."

I let my fork drop with a clatter onto my plate.

"Yeah fine," I said. "But what about me? Do you know how much I missed you after that? I went AWOL in Dumbledore's office!"

Remus had a shocked expression on his face.

"I was only thinking of your welfare…" he began but I cut him off.

"I know that," I said abruptly getting up from the table. Several other Gryffindors glanced up from their breakfast and was watching.

"But I've lost my parents in a way," I continued. "How do you think I would feel if I lost someone else I care about?"

Remus slowly stood up.

"Kelly…"

Without waiting I turned and abruptly left the Hall.

I took a walk outside. Snow began falling now. It stuck in my hair and onto my robe. A gust of wind blew my hair around my face.

I leaned against the castle and just stared into space.

_Why was I acting like this? Could it be that I'm starting to have feelings for Remus now? As more than a best friend? I mean, I would be just as upset if it had been Sirius or James, or Lily. _

I began realizing that I did start to have feelings toward Remus. I sensed someone coming up behind me. I felt a hand on my shoulder.

I quickly turned around. It was Remus.

Without saying a word, I threw my arms around his neck and pulled him against me. My chin was resting on his shoulder. His arms encircled me as well tightly. His chin rested on my shoulder.

He held me tightly as well.

"Hey," he whispered. "I'm not going anywhere okay? I promise."

I just squeezed him tighter.

"We'll get through this mess," he whispered softly in my ear. "Don't worry. Things'll be alright."

We held each other for a bit before we released each other and headed back into the castle.


	5. Christmas Time

DAMASCUS GATE

CHAPTER FIVE-CHRISTMAS TIME

Christmas rolled around. The castle was decorated with mistletoe, garland and other Christmas ornaments.

Lily was allowed to write to James in Azkaban

She wrote daily filling James in on the holidays and what was happening at the castle.

Derek was revived and mostly kept to himself, although he shot death glares toward us at each chance he could get. But knowing Dumbledore, he told him not to come within 3 feet of us.

"God," Sirius said as Derek glared at us before heading out of the Hall after breakfast that morning. "You'd think he was constipated or something."

"Maybe he is," Remus said thoughtfully, but there was a grin on his face.

"A little ExLax will take care of that," Lily added.

She was a bit more cheerful, but not by much. She missed James terribly. She told us that on one hand she was pissed at him for using the curse, but on the other hand she was worried about him and the wedding.

Remus assured her that James would marry her even if he was blind.

"An improvement? I think so," Sirius cracked.

Lily smacked him up the back of the head.

"You know, you keep doing that, you're going to make him stupid permanently," I said.

"Like that's any different than now?" Lily retorted.

We laughed.

Sirius scowled at Lily.

We headed to class.

First class was Transfiguration. We were now learning how to do human transfiguration.

Each of us was able to choose an animal to change into and then concentrate on it.

Lily chose a cat; Sirius was the black dog; Remus however, asked to skip this lesson, but he remained in the classroom watching us.

I chose a horse.

"A much harder animal, but good luck," Professor McGonagall said.

I stood up and concentrated.

REMUS.

I leaned back in my chair at the back of the classroom and crossed my arms over my chest.

We all watched Kelly intently. Lily had already successfully changed into a black cat. Sirius, naturally, changed into the black dog he always did when I changed into a werewolf once a month. Little did Professor McGonagall know, James, Sirius and Peter and already mastered changing.

I felt my lip twitch when I thought about it.

Kelly dropped to her hands and knees and before we knew it, a beautiful white horse appeared with a long flowing mane and tail. Several girls squealed with delight.

"Very nice!" Professor McGonagall said approvingly as she smiled for the first time.

The horse turned around and walked toward me with the hooves clopping on the floor. It stood beside my desk and stared at me with dark brown eyes.

The long ears flicked back and forth.

"Nice job," I grinned.

A bit of the mane hung over the eyes as the horse blinked at me.

Then, the horse extended its muzzle and clamped its teeth on my textbook, pulling it off the desk.

"Hey," I scolded lightly as I got to my feet.

The horse jerked her head up and the book sailed cleanly over it backward.

The textbook landed on Professor McGonagall's desk with a 'thud'.

I stood in front of the horse.

"Thanks a lot," I said. "That wasn't funny."

"We thought it was," Sirius said laughing.

Even Lily and the teacher were chuckling.

I slowly extended my hand toward the horses' forehead.

My fingers barely touched the forehead when Kelly transformed back into her human form.

She was grinning broadly.

"I had to do that," she laughed heartily. "You should've seen the look on your face!"

Still laughing when the bell rang, Kelly grabbed her things and headed out of the classroom. I grabbed my textbook and stuffed it into my bag. Lily and Sirius began walking a head of us with Kelly. I tore after her and playfully tackled her from behind.

"You're in for it now!" I cried laughing.

I used a little too much strength and ended up knocking Kelly forward.

She landed on her stomach. I playfully wrestled her over onto her back, pinning her wrists up by her ears. I was straddling her.

She was breathing heavily. Her hair had fallen over her face and fluttered with each breath.

Lily and James were watching amusedly from at the end of the corridor. I saw them whispering to each other.

I gently brushed the strands away from her face and returned my hand onto her wrist. She was grinning up at me.

"What do you plan to do now, wolf boy?" she teased.

But I began realizing what position I was in with her.

KELLY.

Remus was straddling me and he had my wrists pinned up by my ears.

I was grinning up at him, but the grin left his face.

"What's wrong?" I asked worriedly.

He cleared his throat and released my wrists. He quickly scrambled off of me, picked up his school bag and tore up the corridor.

I propped myself up onto my elbows and turned, looking at Sirius and Lily.

Sirius shrugged and headed off after him.

Lily helped me to my feet.

"What happened?" I demanded picking up my school bag.

Lily and I began walking back to the common room.

Lily had a huge grin on her face.

"If it's what I'm thinking, it's normal," she said.

I looked at her quizzically.

"Listen carefully," she said talking slow. "I think Remus got a bit 'excited'"

It dawned on me what she meant.

"Oh," I said.

"Come on," Lily said grinning as we continued to head to the common room.

REMUS.

I paced the common room. I couldn't believe that sensation rolled over me like that. Sirius managed to catch up with me. He entered the common room.

"Moony? What's wrong? What happened?" Sirius demanded dropping his bag on the floor. "Did you get a strange sensation?"

I stopped pacing and looked at him shocked.

"How'd you know?" I asked scrutinizing him.

Sirius had a goofy expression on his face.

"Please," he said rolling his eyes. "I see the way you look at Kelly. I am not blind, man."

"But we're just friends," I said. "Best friends."

"Doesn't matter, bro," Sirius said shaking his head. "That's how Lily and James started out isn't it?"

"Lily and James hated each other if I recall," I said flatly.

"Yeah but that's not you and Kelly," Sirius said reasonably. "You actually can stand being within 3 feet of each other."

His lip twitched as he said this.

"We're still just friends," I said shrugging.

"Go a head and deny your feelings," Sirius said shrugging too. "But I know what I see."

With that, he headed into the boys dorm room.

I stood, pacing again, thinking about what he said.

I had to admit, my feelings did start to change a bit toward Kelly. I sighed and continued to pace the room.

I really didn't want to say anything to her because I wasn't sure how she felt about me and I didn't want to ruin our friendship. I'd rather have her as a best friend then possibly lose her all together.

I sighed again. I was really confused. I really was going to have to talk to Sirius about this. Ugh. Admitting he was right was the first step because he won't let me live it down. But still, he'd tease me for a bit but he'd offer his help.

At that moment, Kelly and Lily entered the common room.

Immediately, Kelly's face filled with concern.

"Are you alright?" she asked, tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear.

I nodded.

"Why'd you run off like that?" she continued.

Her green eyes were locked on mine.

"I-I was getting stomach pains," I lied offering a grin. "Must've been the sausage I had for breakfast."

"Oh," Kelly said raising an eyebrow.

She didn't look convinced, but she didn't press the subject any further.

She glanced at Lily.

KELLY.

I glanced at Lily. She just shrugged one shoulder.

I didn't want to pressure Remus into telling me what the real reason was why he took off like that, but with Lily's explanation, I didn't press the subject anymore.

"I'm heading to the library for a moment," Remus said nervously running a hand through his dark brown hair. "I'll be back shortly."

With that he headed out of the common room.

I turned to Lily.

"What on earth…?" I began.

"Do you honestly think he's going to tell you that…excuse my language…he got a hard on?" Lily said.

I blushed when she said that.

"No," I admitted. "I guess not."

"Would you?" Lily asked.

I shook my head. "I'd be too embarrassed,"

"Probably the same thing with Remus now," Lily said. "He's embarrassed."

"But I hope not around me after this," I moaned. "I just got him back!"

Lily looked at me quizzically.

"Just got him back? What do you mean?"

_That's right. I didn't tell her yet. I've only told Remus._

I began telling her what happened.

When I was done, she raised an eyebrow at me.

"So," she said slowly. "You're telling me you could've saved James from going to Azkaban and you didn't?"

I looked at her.

"I was only able to save Remus! There was no way to save James too! He already had opened his mouth!" I said shocked.

"YOU STILL COULD HAVE SAVED HIM!" Lily exploded at me, rounding on me suddenly. "INSTEAD YOU SAVE MOONY!"

"Would you have rather let me just let Remus die?" I cried next.

At that moment, Remus had come back into the common room and stood, frozen near the portrait entrance. He was watching intently, looking from both me to Lily.

Sirius had also come out of the boy's dorm at this moment.

Lily stepped closer to me, so that she was right in my face.

"You could've saved both of them," she hissed her green eyes flashing. "There was plenty of time."

"James should've been more careful about what the spells he used," I said.

"DON'T YOU DARE BLAME THIS ON JAMES!" Lily roared.

I stood, completely at a loss for words now.

I felt a faint glistening of tears rising in my eyes.

"Lily," I heard Remus begin. "James should've been a lot more careful."

He began walking toward us.

Lily turned to him.

"That's right," she said stiffly. "Stick up for your girlfriend."

"I'm only saying what's true," Remus said his tone firm. "Both James and Derek were at fault."

Lily didn't say anything. Instead, she roughly brushed past me, jostling me as she left the common room.

"Don't worry about her," Remus said turning his blue eyes onto me. "She's just upset over James and the engagement. Things'll be alright."

"What was that about?" Sirius asked puzzled.

Remus thankfully told him what happened.

"Oh," Sirius said. "That's not your fault, Kel. Maybe it was just meant to be that way that James was supposed to be sent to Azkaban."

"Don't let Lily hear you say that," I muttered lowering my eyes to the floor.

I plopped down on the couch and buried my face into my hands.

"When did everything go wrong," I moaned.

I felt someone sit down beside me on both sides.

I slowly raised my head.

Remus was on my right while Sirius was on my left.

Sirius put an arm around my shoulders.

"Listen to Moony," he said. "Things'll be fine…you'll see."

I slumped against Sirius and gave his arm a squeeze.

Christmas came.

I woke up and found a dozen presents at the foot of my bed.

Lily had woken up already and opened hers. She wasn't in the dorm.

I sighed and opened my gifts.

I had received a new journal from Remus, a new book of spells from Lily, a joke quill that makes a farting noise when you write a certain word, and James' gift wasn't there. I sighed.

I got dressed and headed out of the dorm room, heading down to the Great Hall for breakfast.

Remus, Sirius and Lily were already sitting there.

The minute Lily saw me she quickly finished her breakfast and abruptly left the Hall.

My heart sank even more.

I took a seat beside Sirius. Remus was across from me.

"She's still pissed at me, isn't she?" I said sighing as I helped myself to some porridge.

"I think she's just in shock over the fact that James is _actually_ in Azkaban," Sirius said helping himself to a breakfast roll.

"James was at fault," Remus said reasonably. "He could've used any other curses or spells to jinx Derek and he didn't."

I sighed.

"That's true,"

"Trust me," Sirius said. "Lily's just upset over the entire thing. She'll get over it."

"I hope so," I muttered.

I began eating.

Remus' eyes lingered on me for a bit before they lowered to his breakfast.

We headed to our classes.

Lily stayed away from us at all costs.

So, Remus, Sirius and I stayed together.

I had no idea that things would get worse…much worse.


	6. Kelly

DAMASCUS GATE

CHAPTER FIVE-KELLY'S MISSING!

New Years Eve rolled around.

Everyone was celebrating happily and merrily.

We were all partying in the common room. Some of the Christmas decorations were still up like bits of the mistletoe and garland.

I was standing talking to Sirius when I felt a tap on my shoulder.

I turned around.

It was Sam Travis, the Gryffindor Chaser. He was really cute and a lot of girls ogled him and giggled whenever he smiled at them.

He pointed above my head.

I looked up.

There was a strand of mistletoe hanging there.

Sirius held up his hands and backed away.

I glared at him. I wouldn't have minded maybe a kiss with Sirius, but Sam was known to be an arrogant jerk.

"Looks like it's just you and me," Sam grinned.

Out of the corner of my eyes, I saw Remus watching intently.

Sighing and eager to get it over with, I turned and faced him.

He had short, wavy blond hair and blue eyes.

He stepped closer and leaned forward. He kissed me. It was like kissing a wet dog and I didn't even kiss him back. This was really my first kiss as I've never been kissed before. I was nervous, but now disgusted and eager for it to end.

"That's enough," I said, pulling back.

"Come on," Sam pressed as he put his hands on my hips and tried to pull me against him.

"I said, 'That's enough'," I said struggling to pull back.

"HEY," I heard Remus bellow angrily as the next thing I knew, he appeared beside me and angrily stepped in front of me. "She said that was enough."

"And lookit this," Sam smirked. "Her bodyguard."

"Back off," Remus said, his blue eyes narrowing.

"I'm shaking in my boots," Sam mocked.

I saw Lily watching intently as well.

Sam turned around as though walking away but then he clenched his fist and pulled back his arm, swinging it around. He punched Remus in the mouth.

Remus stumbled back into me, accidentally stepping on my feet before knocking me backward onto my back on the floor.

Remus regained his balance and retaliated back. Remus punched Sam right in the face. Sam was thrown backward and landed on top of third year sitting on the chair.

"STOP!" Sirius yelled as he stepped in-between Remus and Sam with his arms out at his sides, separating them.

"Leave you worm," Sirius snapped at Sam. "I'm going to tell Professor McGonagall what you did."

"What did I do? All I did was kiss Kelly," Sam said raising a hand to his now black and blue eye.

"Yeah and you kept at it even after she said stop," Remus snarled.

Sam staggered out of the common room. Sirius helped me to my feet.

"You okay?" he demanded worriedly.

"Yeah fine," I grumbled.

Sirius made sure that I was okay before following Sam out of the common room, no doubt heading off to tell McGonagall what happened.

Remus turned to me. Everyone went back to celebrating. Lily watched us for a bit before returning talking to a second year named Jennifer Tyson.

His lip was cut and bleeding badly.

"You're bleeding," I said gently taking his chin and pressing my thumb against the cut.

Remus pulled back.

"I'm fine," he said.

"Come here," I said and pulled him by the sleeve of his robe to a corner of the common room that was empty.

I reached into my robe and pulled out a small packet that was an alcohol wipe. I opened it and pressed it against the cut.

He cringed.

"Sorry," I apologized.

Once the bleeding had stopped, I pulled out my wand and gently pressed the tip against the cut. It healed immediately.

He exhaled loudly.

"Thanks," he said.

"No problem," I said grinning.

I turned and headed back to the celebration.

REMUS.

I watched Kelly join in the dancing that was going on now. She was dancing with a first year named Max Edwards.

She was laughing and having a good time.

I gingerly touched my lip where it had been cut. It was smooth now.

When I saw Sam kiss Kelly, I felt a wave of jealousy roll over me.

Kelly caught my eye and winked at me before she turned her attention back to Max.

At that moment, Sirius came back in.

"What did McGonagall say?" I asked tearing my eyes away from Kelly and moved them onto Sirius.

"Sam's in deep poo," Sirius said. "McGonagall said that almost classified as an 'assault' because she said stop and he didn't. So, she's sending a letter home to his parents and I'm pretty sure he's suspended."

"Good," I said vehemently.

"That was really awesome of you to stick up for Kelly like that," Sirius said.

I shrugged.

"Just doing the right thing,"

"Yeah right," Sirius grinned goofily.

"Why is it everyone thinks that I'm having feelings toward Kelly?" I demanded irritably.

"Because we know you, Moony and we aren't blind," Sirius said simply. "Are you?"

I hesitated and didn't reply right away.

"Ha. So we're right," Sirius said gleefully. "I knew it!"

"Don't you dare say anything!" I hissed at him. "To Kelly mostly."

Sirius held up his hand in a defensive position.

"Hey your secret is safe with me," he said grinning.

"I mean it," I said firmly. "If you tell her, I swear that when you change, I will personally fix you."

"Relax," Sirius said laughing. "It's fine."

We continued to watch Kelly.

That night was a full moon. Sirius and I headed to the Shrieking Shack to change.

We entered the shack and I dropped to my hands and knees on the dust and cobweb strewn wooden floor.

I felt my back lengthen and narrow. My sides expanded slightly and my chest expanded, straining the material of my robe and uniform; dark gray and white fur sprouted all over my body; my legs bent into haunches; my ears grew and tapered into points; my nose and mouth pulled forward into a snout, while white canines and incisor slid down under violet lips. My bottom jaw slid forward also and held the same knife sharp canines and incisors; a tail grew at the base of my spine and my hands and feet changed into paws. I shook my wolf body and turned to Sirius, who had changed into the black dog already.

KELLY.

Lily had gone to bed early. I was sitting up reading in the girls' dorm.

Suddenly, I sensed someone in the room. I closed my book.

"Lily? Jen? Lisa?" I called.

No reply.

Then, I felt a material roughly pulled over my head and someone tightened the end of the material so I couldn't scream. I felt my body being pulled out of bed and I kept thrashing, but I couldn't scream.

Something heavy was brought down on my head and blackness swallowed me up. My body going limp in my captors' arms.

LILY.

A bright flash of light went off toward the back of the girls' dorm. I woke up abruptly but the light had vanished as soon as it appeared.

"Kelly?" I asked as I turned on my light.

From my light, I could see Kelly's bed. The sheets were rumpled and worse thing…Kelly wasn't in it.

"Kelly?" I called as I scrambled out of bed. I hurried over to her bed. I looked around. There was no sign of her in the dorm at all.

I ran and checked the common room…nothing.

I ran back into the dorm and searched by her bed.

Suddenly, something gold glittered in the light from my lamp on in the middle of the bed. I reached forward and picked it up.

It was Kelly's necklace. A small gold horseshoe necklace she always wore. Panic settled in totally.

She was gone.

Blinded by panic, I remembered Remus and Sirius in the Shrieking Shack. I remembered the way to get there. I took off clutching the horseshoe necklace in my hand.

THE WOLF.

Sirius' ears perked up suddenly. Someone was coming. I stood squarely on all fours and lowered my head, retracting my top lip exposing the white canines and incisors. I growled softly and my hackles stood up on end.

Sirius was also in this position beside me.

The person burst into the shack and collapsed to their knees.

I heard a girl sobbing uncontrollably. The moonlight fell across the person. Lily.

Immediately, my body relaxed and I sensed something was terribly wrong.

Alarmed, I walked over to her and sat on my haunches beside her, gently nudging her with my black, cold nose.

"Lily?" Sirius asked as he quickly changed back into his human self and crouched down in front of Lily.

"Kelly…gone," she choked out.

"What are you talking about?" Sirius asked. "Please try and calm down. Explain to us what happened."

"I-I don't know what happened exactly, but there was a flash of light! When I checked on Kelly, she was missing from her bed. She wasn't in the common room either and I found this," Lily sobbed as she opened her palm and there was the gold horseshoe necklace Kelly always wore.

"Lily, maybe Kelly went for a late night walk?" Sirius asked reasonably. "And maybe the clasp came undone while she slept."

Lily shook her head.

"No! I know something has happened to her!" she sobbed shaking.

"Listen," Sirius said soothingly. "Go back to the school and common room. Remus and I will sniff around to pick up her scent. If we find her, I'll let her know."

"And if you don't?" Lily asked raising her eyes to Sirius'.

"Then we go straight to Dumbledore," Sirius said firmly.

Lily nodded and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand.

I licked her face.

"Thanks, Moony," she chuckled softly. "I'm feeling a bit better now."

Sirius changed back into the black dog. We followed Lily back to the school.

Once we hit the school, Lily went back to the common room while Sirius and I trotted side-by-side in the corridors, sniffing every corner and crevice.

We then searched every floor…nothing. I was also getting concerned now.

After nearly 4 hours of searching and coming up with nothing, panic settled in.

We headed back to the common room. Lily opened the portrait for us to come through and enter the common room.

Lily was nervously sitting on the couch, staring into the dwindling fire.

The minute she saw us, she jumped to her feet.

Sirius changed back into his human self.

LILY.

"Anything?" I asked hopefully and tearfully.

Sirius shook his head.

I dropped back onto the couch and buried my face into my hands.

"Something's happened to her," I sobbed.

I felt weight on my feet and Remus thrusted his head in-between my arms. He whined.

His amber eyes stared up at me mournfully.

"We'll tell Dumbledore," Sirius said. "I'll go right now. Moony? Stay with Lily."

With that, he took off back out of the common room.

"You do know that you're in serious danger of possibly getting discovered," I sobbed to the wolf.

The wolf barked as if to say, "I don't care".

Remus rested his head on my thighs. I absentmindedly stroked his head.

I just cried.

Shortly, Remus changed back into his human self but he was nude.

I quickly handed him my robe. He wrapped it around him, tore into the boys' dorm and about 4 minutes later came back out fully dressed in his uniform and robe. He was carrying mine. He handed me my robe. I just tossed it onto the arm of the couch.

He sat down beside me.

"I'm sure Kelly will be just fine," he said but by the sound of his tone, he didn't quite believe it himself.

I sobbed.

Remus put his arm around me and pulled me against him.

It was 6:00 AM now. Sirius returned with Professor McGonagall and Professor Dumbledore.

"What did you see?" Dumbledore asked gently.

"I didn't see anything except a bright flash of light," I said as tears streamed down my cheeks. "When I looked into Kelly's bed, she was gone. I even checked the common room and Remus and Sirius searched the castle but found nothing."

Dumbledore's eyes moved onto Sirius and Remus.

"No scent?" he asked meaningfully.

He knew about Remus, James and Sirius.

"No sir," Sirius said gravely.

Dumbledore sighed.

"Then my only conclusion is that someone portkeyed. They portkeyed into the girls' dorm, grabbed Kelly and then portkeyed back to wherever they came from,"

"I thought you can't Apparate inside Hogwarts?" I heard Remus ask.

His voice began breaking.

"Apparate no," Dumbledore said. "But portkeys are a way of getting around the spells that guard Hogwarts."

Remus kept his arm around me.

"Don't worry," Dumbledore said firmly. "We'll find her. I'm alerting the Ministry right away."

McGonagall put a gentle hand on Sirius' shoulder before she and Dumbledore leave.

Sirius turned to us.

"I say we take matters into our own hands," he said angrily.

"Meaning what?" Remus asked.

"We sneak out and find Kelly ourselves,"


	7. Sneaking Out

DAMASCUS GATE

CHAPTER SIX-SNEAKING OUT

REMUS.

We looked at Sirius.

"Are you joking?" Lily cried. "We could get into serious trouble!"

"We can use James' Invisibility Cloak, since neither of us can Apparate yet," Sirius continued ignoring Lily's comment.

"You really are crazy," Lily said throwing her hands up into the air. "And where would we start looking huh? We have no idea where she'll be! And aren't you afraid of getting suspended?"

I was silent through this whole thing. I began agreeing with Sirius. I wasn't going to just stand by and not look for Kelly.

"I agree," I said quietly. "Where would we start looking?"

"Thank you!" Lily said relieved.

"Well, I can change into the dog and pick up her scent," Sirius said simply. "We can track her down that way. By using the Invisibility Cloak, no one would see us sneaking out of the castle."

"Sounds good," I said.

Lily looked at me like I was mad.

"You too?" she cried. "I don't believe it."

"You in?" Sirius asked turning to Lily.

"Yeah," Lily grumbled.

"Let's go," Sirius grinned mischievously.

Sirius headed into the boys' dorm and came back with the Invisibility Cloak.

Lily and I huddled close to Sirius and he swung the cloak over us. We snuck out of the common room, down the corridor and out of the school.

The cold night air whipped at us as we crossed the grounds.

We left the grounds and were now out of the vicinity of Hogwarts.

KELLY.

I was chained up against a cold cobblestone wall. I was gagged and blindfolded. My wrists were chained up against my ears. I had no idea where I was, but the smell was so horrible. The place smelled of decay and sour, like churning meat.

I blinked against the darkness of the blindfold.

I heard something coming toward me. I froze and felt my body shaking violently.

"Are you sure this will make him come?" a voice demanded.

It sounded cold and lifeless.

"Oh yes," another voice, horrible familiar said panicky. "He cares very much for this one."

"Very good, Wormtail," the cold voice said.

_Peter! I don't believe it!_ I thought as horror and anger rolled over me. _What on earth is going on?_

I sensed someone crouching down in front of me and a cold, clammy hand touching the side of my jaw.

"Oh yes," the cold voice crooned. "I can see why. This is a pretty little witch."

"W-What do you want?" I stammered.

"Your friend will join me," the cold voice sneered. "Or else I will kill you."

"Who?"

"The in-human,"

_Remus! _I thought. _Why on earth would someone…Oh. My. God. Lord Voldemort!_

"He will join me for the war," Lord Voldemort's voice rasped. "Werewolves are a respectable enemy."

"He will never join you," I said.

"Then you will perish," Lord Voldemort said simply.

He got up and then I heard him walking away.

"Peter! I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU, YOU TRAITOR!" I screamed.

There was silence.

REMUS.

Once we were well away from Hogwarts grounds, Sirius slipped off the cloak. He changed into the black dog and trotted alongside us, sniffing eagerly at the ground.

"Do you really think we're going to pick up her scent? I mean if the person portkeyed…" Lily began uncertainly.

"It's worth a try," I said quietly as we walked along.

The cold oddly didn't bother me. But I could see Lily was shivering under her robe.

"I should've worn my cloak," she muttered tightening her robe around her.

"Here," I said as I pulled off my robe and handed it to her, leaving me only in my gray sweater vest with the Gryffindor colors embroided along the V-neckline, my slacks, tie and long sleeved shirt under the vest.

"But you'll get cold!" Lily said shocked.

"I don't feel the cold like you think," I said. "Werewolves are pretty much immune to it."

"Thanks," Lily said gratefully as she pulled my robe around her tighter. "Much better."

As we walked, I was in deep thought about Kelly.

I didn't realize just how much she meant to me until now. She was taken and there was nothing I could've done. I felt completely helpless.

A snow had begun falling, sticking to the ground and our hair.

Sirius began barking suddenly.

"I think he found something!" Lily said shocked.

We were now a mile from Hogwarts.

The black dog vanished and Sirius changed back into his human form.

"I found her scent," he said eagerly. "Whoever portkeyed out of Hogwarts landed here and continued on foot from here."

"Where are we?" I asked confused.

"I think Oxfordshire," Sirius said stunned. "Or on the outskirts. I know there's a castle around here somewhere. It was abandoned hundreds of years ago."

I too, picked up Kelly's scent.

"I've got her scent too," I said urgently. "Let's go."

KELLY.

I couldn't believe Peter would do such a thing. How could he? After all that we did for him he just turned his back on us like this and joined the most evil wizard in the world. It was really unnerving and shocking really.

I was starving and thirsty. I hadn't eaten or drank anything in hours. I felt weak a little too.

I didn't know what time it was. The place where I was was freezing cold. I heard the wind howling outside. A violent shiver ran through my body, making me tremble.

I heard someone coming several minutes later. It might've been a half hour or an hour I couldn't really tell.

I froze and listened intently.

"Kelly!" I heard Sirius whisper.

Instant relief flooded over me.

Someone crouched down in front of me and pulled off the blindfold. Remus.

"Are you okay?" he demanded anxiously as he pulled out the gag too.

"Oh God," I said. "You've got to get out of here! You-Know-Who wants you to join him!"

Remus' expression changed.

"Peter is here too! He joined him!" I continued. "You've got to leave! If you don't join him, he'll kill me."

"He'll do no such thing," Remus said firmly.

His hands moved onto my left wrist that was chained. He pulled out his wand and tapped the lock. The cuff opened up and my wrist was free. He leaned over me and pressed the tip of his wand against the second cuff. Our faces were inches apart.

I gazed into his face as he kept his eyes on the cuff. The cuff sprang open and both wrists were freed.

I tore my eyes away from his face and rubbed my wrist.

Sirius and Lily helped me up.

"How'd you guys get here?" I asked shocked.

Sirius showed us the Invisibility Cloak and grinned.

"How'd you find me though?" I asked.

"Sirius found your scent," Remus explained. "Whoever took you Apparated a mile from Hogwarts. We picked it up and followed it here to the castle."

"You guys snuck out of the castle?" I asked incredulously.

"Yep," Sirius grinned proudly.

"That was really stupid," I said shaking my head. "You could've gotten caught."

"How?" Sirius demanded. "No one saw us."

He gestured to the cloak.

"Still," I said reprovingly.

"Still nothing," Remus said suddenly. "Our best friend was taken…we weren't about to stand by and let anything happen to her."

I looked at him.

"He's right of course," the cold voice crooned from the entranceway. I was in some kind of dungeon.

We all turned around.

Lord Voldemort was standing there with his wand aimed at me.

"We don't want anything to happen to such a pretty witch," he smirked.

Sirius pushed Lily behind him protectively and Remus pushed me behind him.

"What do you want?" Remus demanded keeping his eyes on Lord Voldemort.

"For you to join me," Lord Voldemort said as if explaining something simple to a 2 year old child. "Werewolves make wonderful allies."

"I would never join you," Remus spat.

"Then say good-bye to your precious witch," Lord Voldemort said moving his wand around Remus. It was aimed at my legs.

"_Crucio!_" Voldemort said.

I screamed and felt my legs buckle beneath me.

The pain was horrible and excruciating.

REMUS.

Kelly's legs buckled beneath her. She was screaming in pain. A sound that went through me.

"STOP," I yelled.

Lord Voldemort moved his wand off of Kelly.

She stopped screaming and I felt her grab onto the back of my robe, pulling herself to her feet again.

I felt her grabbing a handful of my robe on my back and I felt her pressing her face into my back and I heard her sobbing quietly into the back of my robe.

"Leave my friends alone," I demanded narrowing my eyes.

"Join me then," Voldemort said. "Or the next time, I will kill her."

I glanced at Sirius and Lily. They were watching fearfully and worriedly.

"Fine," I said turning my eyes back onto Voldemort. "But let me kill them by myself."

Sirius' expression was shocked and terrified, but I had plan.

Voldemort's face smirked.

"Very well. Go a head," he said bowing and backing away.

I spun away from Kelly. She stood, completely stunned as tears streamed down her cheeks.

Lily pulled Kelly over and the three of them huddled close together.

With my face pointed away from Lord Voldemort, I mouthed to Sirius.

"The cloak," I mouthed.

It took him a minute to register what I said then he nodded.

I mouthed the count down.

"One…two…three,"

On 'three', I stepped forward and Sirius swung the cloak around us, vanishing us from sight.

"WHAT?" Lord Voldemort exploded rushing forward.

We quickly dodged him and tore from the castle undetected.

Once we were well away from the castle, Sirius pulled off the cloak.

"You really had us going there, Moony," Lily said relieved. "You looked so serious!"

"I had a plan," I said frowning. "Don't you guys trust me?"

"We were stupid," Sirius admitted. "Of course we trust you."

"I would never turn to him," I said as the snow picked up heavier now. Small blankets covered the grass.

KELLY.

Remus and I walked side-by-side as Sirius and Lily did.

"Are you alright?" Remus asked, looking at me.

I nodded.

"Yeah thanks for saving me guys," I said relieved.

"We were so scared for you!" Lily gushed. "I saw a light in the room and then you vanished. We checked all over the school and couldn't find anything except the horseshoe necklace you always wore."

"Dumbledore was alerting the Ministry, but we couldn't leave it up to them," Sirius continued. "We had to find you on our own."

I smiled.

Shortly before we hit Hogwarts grounds, Sirius threw the cloak over us and we snuck back into school.

We snuck into the entrance and froze.

Professor Dumbledore was standing on the staircase.

"Oops," I heard Sirius mutter.

"I would like to see you all in my office," he said.

We couldn't tell his tone, whether it was angry, amused, or what.

We glanced at each other and followed Dumbledore up to his office.

Once inside the office, we sat around his desk.

Dumbledore sat down behind his desk, clasped his hands on top of the desk and peered at us from behind his half moon spectacles.

There was a silence before he spoke.

"What you three did was very dangerous," he said, speaking to Lily, Sirius and Remus. "Why did you do it?"

"Because we couldn't just stand by and do nothing," Sirius replied. "She is our best friend and we didn't want anything to happen to her."

Dumbledore regarded him for a moment.

"I take it that you were careful?" he asked quietly and meaningfully.

"Yes," Sirius said. "We used James' Invisibility Cloak. It came in handy."

He glanced at Remus.

Dumbledore picked up on that.

"What happened exactly?"

Lily began explaining everything to him, including Peter and what Lord Voldemort wanted.

"Hmm," Dumbledore said scratching his beard. "I'm guessing that because you tricked him, he'll be after you now even more. This is bad."

"I'm sorry, sir," Remus said. "But Kelly was in trouble and we had to get her. She means a lot to me."

We looked at him startled.

"I mean…to us," he finished quickly.

"I understand why you did it," Dumbledore said kindly. "You're not going to be punished…but be aware that this isn't over."

We nodded and he dismissed us from his office.

We headed back to the common room to try and get some sleep.


	8. The Surprise

DAMASCUS GATE

CHAPTER EIGHT-THE SURPRISE

I sat in the Gryffindor common room after we came from Dumbledore's office and just stared into the fire. Lily and Sirius had headed off to bed.

Remus sat down next to me.

"Penny for your thoughts?" he asked gently.

"I just can't believe that Peter did what he did," I said sadly staring at the crackling fire.

"I know," Remus agreed quietly. "I'm just as surprised as you are. What on earth possessed him to do such a thing?"

I shrugged.

"Maybe because he always looked up to James and Sirius and worshiped them?"

Remus raised an eyebrow.

"Why would that cause him to join You-Know-Who?"

"Maybe because he felt like he could be great too," I said thoughtfully. "I really don't know."

Remus sighed also.

"James is going to want to kill him when he finds out. Mark my words,"

"Can you blame him?" I demanded angrily. "He kidnaps me and then his 'master' threatens to do me in unless you joined them!"

Remus stared at me.

"You were in no danger, Kelly. I wasn't about to let You-Know-Who harm you,"

My stomach flipped as though I missed going down several steps.

"I know you wouldn't let anything happen to me," I said softly as I got up and stood in front of the fireplace. I leaned against the mantle piece and just stared into space. "But what if V," I said not really saying the word just the letter. "Really killed me before you said you were going to join him? That would've forced you over for sure."

Remus exhaled and stood up, coming over to me and standing in front of me.

He peered into my face.

"Then I would've made it my life's ambition to hunt him down and kill him for doing that. I would _never _turn to him," he said softly.

I smiled and lowered my eyes to his chest. I stared at his tie.

He took a step closer to me.

My heart began pounding loudly in my chest. I kept my eyes on his tie.

He was so close I caught a whiff of a mild cologne he always wore.

"Nothing's going to happen to you," he said quietly. "I promise."

He gently touched my jaw and tilted my head up so we were eye level.

My heart was still pounding in my chest.

"Okay?"

I nodded and smiled.

He lowered his face closer. I shut my eyes.

REMUS.

I lowered my face even closer. Kelly shut her eyes. My lips were just barely inches from hers when I pulled back.

"Um, I'm tired," I stammered. "I've got to go to bed. I'll see you in the morning?"

She opened her eyes.

"Sure," she said.

I nodded and stepped around her, heading to the boy's dorm.

I laid down in bed and stared up at the ceiling.

I had really wanted to kiss her, but that would mean that our friendship went to the next level. I was really scared and didn't know how to go about approaching her or even how she would feel about that.

I decided to talk to Sirius in the morning.

I changed and slipped under the covers. Shortly, I was fast asleep.

The next morning, I went down to the Great Hall.

Kelly, Lily and Sirius were already at the Gryffindor table. They were talking amongst themselves.

I sat down beside Lily. Sirius and Kelly were sitting across from us.

"Hey, sleep okay?" Lily asked brightly.

"Sure," I said smiling.

Kelly avoided my eyes and kept her attention on her breakfast.

"Sirius? Can I talk to you for a moment?" I asked, moving my eyes onto him.

"Sure mate," Sirius said as he put his fork down and got up.

I pulled him aside and began talking to him. Over his shoulder, I saw Kelly and Lily talking as well.

"What's up?" Sirius asked watching me.

"Last night, I almost kissed Kelly," I said, swallowing.

"Awesome," Sirius grinned. "Why didn't you kiss her fully?"

"Got nervous," I admitted. "I'm really worried that if I kiss her, that means that I want to take the friendship to the next level and I don't know how she would feel about that. Suppose she just wants to remain friends? I would feel like a complete moron."

"Moony, you are the nicest guy I know," Sirius said. "I don't know why a girl wouldn't want to go out with you. Can I ask you something?"

I nodded. "Sure,"

"Why haven't you?"

"Haven't I what?"

"Gone out with a girl," Sirius said.

I sighed and shrugged.

"Dunno. I guess I really haven't liked anyone like that,"

"I'm sure girls have asked you out right?" Sirius ventured.

"Yeah," I said. "But they really didn't seem my type."

Sirius raised an eyebrow.

"Your 'type'? What's that? Hairy and they lick themselves for a bath?" Sirius joked.

I scowled at him.

"No," I said. "They were…what's the word…ditsy?"

Sirius laughed.

"I got your point,"

Sirius and I looked over at Kelly and Lily whispering close together.

"So Kelly is your type?" Sirius asked.

"I think so," I said softly.

"Then I think I shall have a talk with her," Sirius grinned.

"No!" I hissed grabbing the sleeve of his robe. "Suppose she doesn't feel the same way? I'd feel like a complete loser!"

"Moony, how are you ever going to find out unless you ask? You're going to be going around wondering the entire time and not act," Sirius said.

"Fine," I grumbled. "Just don't tell her how I feel okay? Just see how she feels about me alright?"

"Gotcha," Sirius said nodding.

We headed back to the table. Immediately, Lily and Kelly stopped whispering.

"Everything okay?" Kelly asked worriedly.

"Fine," Sirius replied cheerfully.

We continued to eat breakfast.

Lily and I sat together at Transfiguration. Sirius and Kelly sat behind us. I could hear Sirius whispering to Kelly behind me.

I tried to concentrate on my puppy that I was supposed to transfigure into a mini pony but I couldn't.

"Is everything okay? You seem awfully quiet," Lily whispered.

"Fine," I grumbled.

"I beg to differ," Lily said softly.

"It's just that Sirius was…well, is talking to Kelly about her 'possible' feelings toward me. I almost kissed her last night," I muttered.

Lily let out a squeal that caused the rest of the class to raise their heads up and stare.

She sheepishly grinned and pretended to concentrate on her puppy.

"Almost? What happened?" Lily whispered.

"I got scared," I admitted.

"Natural," Lily said softly.

The bell rang ending Transfiguration.

I got up and hurried out of the class, leaving Sirius and Kelly still talking.

I decided to take refuge in the library. For some reason it calmed me down a bit to be surrounded by books.

I took out a book called _Modern Transfiguration and Its Warnings._ I took a seat and flipped through the book, not really reading the words.

"Remus?" Kelly's voice asked cautiously.

I looked up. Kelly had just entered the library and was walking toward me. She stood by the table.

"Yes?" I asked.

"Can I sit down?" she asked gesturing to the empty chair across from me.

"Meh," I said shrugging. "Go ahead."

She pulled out the chair and sat down, tucking her skirt underneath her. She crossed her arms on top of the table and rested her chin on top of them.

"Sirius was just telling me something very interesting," she said.

I couldn't tell what her tone was…angry, amused or what.

"Oh really?" I said propping the book up and keeping my eyes on the words CHAPTER 3-TRANSFIGURATION DON'TS.

"He told me that you told him that you started to have feelings for me other than a best friend but you're terrified to tell me because you're scared that I wouldn't possibly feel the same way?" Kelly asked.

_God Sirius! Did you tell her my whole life secrets? _I thought with a touch of annoyance.

"Well," I began nervously clearing my throat. "There…"

"Because if it's true," Kelly continued interrupting me. "I just want to tell you that I feel the same way."

I froze.

"What?"

"I want to be more than friends, but I was scared too," Kelly admitted softly. She gently reached over and lowered the book down so we were able to look at each other one on one. "So I know how you feel."

I felt a bit of relief spread over me.

"The question now is," Kelly said as she leaned forward out of her seat and put her face close to mine. "What do we do about it?"

She was grinning.

I had to grin back.

"I don't know," I said. "What do you suggest?"

She inched closer.

"See if this is just right," she said as she moved even closer until our lips met. She kissed me gently and softly. I returned the kisses the same way.

I felt like I was in heaven.

After a few moments, she pulled back and sat down in her seat.

"That's about right," I grinned.

KELLY.

Remus was grinning at me.

I was so relieved that everything was out in the open now.

"Come on," I said, checking my watch. "We've got Charms now."

Remus put the book back and we headed to class.

Sirius grinned at Remus and slapped him on the back. Lily squealed and gave me a hug when she saw me.

I guess they saw it all along.

Remus and I sat next to each other in class.

Professor Dawes began teaching us the Yennlar Charm, which was supposed to repel the Stupefy charm.

About a half an hour into the lesson, a first year came into the class.

"Professor Dawes? I'm looking for a Remus Lupin?" the first year said nervously.

Professor Dawes pointed to Remus next to me. The first year was carrying a parcel.

"Who's this from?" Remus asked curiously.

"Not sure," the first year said. "Some guy dressed in a cloak. I couldn't get a good look at his face."

The first year placed the parcel on the desk and turned and left the classroom. Everyone was watching curiously as Remus opened the parcel.

He opened it and I screamed.

It was a dead puppy from the Transfiguration class earlier with a note attached:

THIS COULD BE YOU ON A FULL MOON

I leaned over the aisle and vomited.

We were ushered out of the classroom and right to Professor Dumbledore's office.

I was given a Vasix Potion to calm my stomach. Lily was shaking and Sirius was comforting her.

"And the first year had no idea who gave it to her?" Professor Dumbledore asked curiously.

"No sir," Remus said swallowing.

I sat hugging myself.

"All she said was that some guy was dressed in a cloak and that she couldn't get a good look at him," Sirius said.

"Most odd," Professor Dumbledore said. "But I have a feeling this is the work of You-Know-Who."

"Why would he do this?" I asked.

"Because Remus tricked him," Dumbledore said calmly. "Now he's going to torture Remus into joining him. If he failed once to get him to join, he'd most certainly try again."

"It won't work," Remus said firmly. "I would never join him."

"This might just very well be the beginning," Dumbledore said seriously. "I really think you four should be careful. Things could get more violent and worse possibly. You-Know-Who doesn't give up that easily."

"Sheesh," Sirius said shaking my head.

"We'll be careful, Professor I promise," Lily said nodding. "Has there been any word from James?"

"He's doing well," Professor Dumbledore said softly. "He's looking forward to getting out though."

His lip twitched at that.

"As I said," Dumbledore continued gravely. "Be on the lookout for anything. Don't accept any more parcels, owls or anything from anyone that you don't know."

We nodded.

"You're dismissed,"

We left the office and headed back to the common room.

"Seems like poo boy is pissed off," Sirius said flopping down on the chair.

"Yeah," Remus said vehemently. "But its not going to work."

"Remus," Lily said suddenly. "Suppose he goes as far as hurting one of us? Or worse?"

"Then I will make it my business to make him pay," Remus said simply. "He isn't going to win this."

"We should just be careful," I said.

We all looked at each other.

"Definitely," Sirius agreed.


	9. Blinded

DAMASCUS GATE

CHAPTER NINE-BLINDED

After the short break, we headed to the rest of our classes.

Up next was Potions, which we were learning about the Wilcop Potion. It was to cure seasonal allergies and much like an eye drop. Professor Anicks would give us a potion to start sneezing and if our Wilcop potion worked we would stop sneezing.

It was administered through an eye dropper into each eye.

I carefully mixed each ingredient into the potion.

Remus got up and got one of the ingredients from the back cabinets. He came back and handed me the rest.

"I hope we don't sneeze our heads off," Lily moaned behind us as she stirred her potion.

"Then hopefully the antidote will work no?" Sirius said grinning.

I added the ingredients into my potion and stirred.

Finally, after we were all sneezing, Professor Anicks had each of us take an eye droplet filled with our potion and administer it to ourselves.

Remus' worked fine. It was my turn.

I dropped one drop into my eye…then the second…and felt as if my eyes were on fire.

REMUS.

Kelly screamed and dug both heels of her palms into her eyes.

"Kelly?" I demanded anxiously.

"They're burning!" she cried. "My eyes are burning!"

"It's not supposed to burn," Professor Anicks said nervously. "Did you add the ingredients in the right way?"

"She did," Lily said. "We saw her."

The Gryffindors nodded.

I gently pulled her hands away from her eyes.

Her eyes were normal colored though.

"Your eyes are okay," I said.

"I can't see!" she cried hysterically.

I slowly waved my hand in front of her face. Her eyes remained motionless.

"Take her up to Madam Elkin," Professor Anicks said.

So I gently grabbed Kelly's hand and carefully led her out of the Potions classroom.

I linked arms with her as we walked down the corridor.

"What on earth happened?" I mused.

"I don't know!" Kelly sobbed. "I added the same ingredients that you did."

"Yeah," I said deep in thought. "But I didn't have a chance to test mine yet. I was supposed to go after you."

Kelly was silent.

"Someone is trying to scare us," she said.

"Who?"

"Who else? Dumbledore is right," Kelly said.

"We can't be sure that that is the case," I said reasonably. "It might just be a mishap."

"Sure," Kelly said. "A really _bad _mishap."

She sighed.

We reached the hospital wing. Madam Elkin said that the reason for Kelly's blindness was because someone added a Tredno root into her potion. They cause blindness.

"When will my eyesight come back?" Kelly demanded shrilly.

"Not sure," Madam Elkin said gravely. "Tredno roots can be seriously poisonous when exposed to unprotected areas of the body…and being that it was added to your potion and placed in your eye, I really don't know. All I can do is give Geban drops to help your eyes. It's really only a matter of time dear."

Kelly swore angrily.

Madam Elkin gave Kelly two drops in her eyes of the Geban potion and then we were off, with me helping her.

"So basically, I'm going to be blind for a long time," Kelly muttered bitterly.

"I'm here," I said gently. "I won't let anything happen to you. I'll help you."

"Sure," she said sarcastically. "Just like you helped me with becoming blind. I still got blind even though you were there."

Her words stung. I knew she was just upset but still.

"Fine," I said angrily letting go of her arm. "You want to be like that? Then find your own way back to the common room."

I began taking several steps down the corridor.

"Thanks!" Kelly called as I turned around and saw her feeling her way along the corridor, feeling the walls. "I can most certainly find my own way!"

I turned around quickly and began walking back to the corridor.

I reached the common room. While we were in the hospital wing, the 45 minute break had come. Lily and Sirius were sitting in the common room. They looked up.

"How's Kelly?" Sirius asked worriedly.

"Fine," I said sharply. "She's just peachy."

"What happened?" Lily asked immediately.

"She blames me for becoming blind," I said plopping down on a chair.

"Aw man," Sirius moaned. "Just when you two get together you have your first fight…how sweet."

"Can it," I snapped. "I can't understand why she would blame me! I would never deliberately hurt her!"

Lily sighed.

"I know," she said sympathetically. "But she's probably just distraught over becoming blind. She doesn't mean anything."

"Where is she anyway?" Sirius asked.

"Left her in the corridor," I said.

Sirius snorted and Lily smacked him up the backside of the head.

"You left her? Remus that was cold!" Lily scolded looking shocked.

"Hey," I said angrily again. "She was the one who said 'I can most certainly find my way'"

An hour later, Kelly still hadn't arrived in the common room. I had to admit I was getting worried and feeling guilty for leaving her there. I should've just dragged her back to the common room anyway.

Sighing, I got up from Charms class and excused myself from Professor Grey's class.

I headed back to the corridor where I had originally left her.

She was still there.

I breathed a sigh of relief and jogged over to her.

She was sitting on the floor with her back pressed up against the wall.

"Kelly! Oh thank God!" I cried, dropping to my knees and I skidded a few inches on the floor in front of her.

"Leave me alone," she muttered as tears streamed down her cheeks.

"I'm so sorry," I said automatically. "I should've never left you alone."

"You had every right to leave me," Kelly sobbed. "I was being a bitch toward you."

My lip twitched.

"I have to admit, I wasn't exactly being a good protector either,"

Kelly shook her head.

"No," she said. "None of this is your fault. I was just angry at becoming blind. I'm so sorry."

I reached forward and grabbed her under her arms and lifted her to her feet. I gently grabbed her wrists.

"I understand," I said gently. "Let's never blame each other again okay?"

"Deal," Kelly sobbed.

I drew her close into a hug and she pressed her face deep into my chest.

I hugged her tightly.

"Come on," I said pressing my face into her hair. "Let's get back to Charms class okay?"

She sniffled and pulled her face back.

I stared into her face.

"How can you still like me even though I'm blind?" she asked in a small voice.

"Because I didn't fall in love with your eyes," I said softly smiling. "I fell in love with you and you only."

She smiled at that.

I gave her a quick kiss and then continued.

We headed back to class and I carefully sat Kelly down at a table.

Kelly was allowed to sit the class out because she wasn't able to see what she was doing.

After classes, we headed to dinner.

Lily helped Kelly eat.

"I still can't believe that happened," Sirius said shaking his head as Lily helped Kelly spear a baked potato.

"I know," I mused. "I would've had the same problem as well had I gone first. I should've."

"Naw," Sirius said shaking his head. "No one knew. Don't you dare blame yourself."

"I hope he isn't blaming himself," Kelly said turning her head. She was looking right past me.

"No," I said smiling. "I'm not."

"Good," she said nodding fiercely.

I continued to smile.

After dinner, we all headed to our dorms. Lily helped Kelly into the girls' dorm.

I headed off with Sirius to bed.

"I hope James is okay," Sirius mused as he quickly changed into his Pj's. "I wonder what he's doing right now."

"Probably wishing he was back here," I said. "And probably wishing he hadn't used an Unforgivable curse."

"Yep," Sirius said nodding.

We climbed into bed and soon dozed off.

The next morning, Sirius and I awoke and headed down to the Great Hall.

Oddly, Professor Dumbledore wasn't at the Head table.

"Where's Dumblydore?" Sirius asked affectionately.

"Dunno," Lily said.

"I hope he's alright?" Kelly asked feeling around for her goblet of water.

Lily grabbed it before she would've knocked it over.

Lily carefully helped Kelly take a sip of water. Kelly took several sips. Lily put down the goblet.

Suddenly, Kelly went rigid in her seat.

"Kel?" I demanded automatically.

Kelly didn't answer.

KELLY.

I naturally could see nothing but whiteness, but all of a sudden, I saw the corridors and the torch lit hallway. I was walking toward an office, but yet I was sitting here. It was as if I was seeing through someone else's eyes.

I saw Professor Dumbledore's office ahead of me, and I looked down at my hand. It was a man's hand holding a large, long cane. I looked back up at Professor Dumbledore's office doors. I knocked on the door.

"Come in," I heard him call.

I entered the office. His back was to me. He was scanning the books in his large collection. I went right up to him and raised the cane.

I heard the portrait's gasp to my left. I brought down the cane.

The office vanished and the whiteness returned. I jumped.

"Oh my God!" I cried jumping up. "We've got to get to Dumbledore's office!"

I felt around for someone. I grabbed the person's shoulder next to me.

"Is this Lily or Sirius?"

"Sirius, Kel," Sirius' voice said. "Let's go."

SIRIUS.

Kelly had grabbed onto my shoulder. Lily and Remus jumped to their feet as well.

I had Kelly latch onto the back of my robe and we hurried up to Professor Dumbledore's office.

We reached the office.

Remus knocked on the door.

"Professor?" he called. "Are you alright?"

There was no reply.

"Professor?" Lily called next.

Still nothing.

Remus turned the knob and pushed open the door. We entered the office.

"HELP!" the portraits cried.

We scanned the office.

Professor Dumbledore was lying on his side in front of the bookcase. He wasn't moving.

"Professor!" Remus cried as we rushed to his side.

"What happened?" Lily asked tearfully as she dropped to her knees. "Is he okay?"

Remus put two fingers on Dumbledore's neck.

"Yes, there's a pulse," he said relieved.

"What on earth happened?" I asked.

"Someone came into the office and hit him over the head with this cane," Kelly replied leaning on my shoulder.

"How do you know this?" Remus asked curiously looking up at her.

"I had a sort of 'vision' if you will," Kelly said slowly. "It was like I was seeing through someone else's eyes. It was a man though."

"Yes, yes!" a portrait of a witch cried eagerly. "It was a man, but we couldn't see his face or anything because of a cloak. He had his hood pulled over his head as well…but he was short."

Remus, Lily and I looked at each other.

"And he was carrying a cane," the witch continued.

"Did you get a look at the cane?" Remus asked Kelly.

Kelly closed her eyes.

"It was black with a silver tip on it sort of like the cane from the movie "Storm of the Century" by Stephen King," Kelly replied.

"It had a silver wolfs head?" I asked.

Kelly nodded.

"She's right," the witch said nodding.

"Stay with him," I said as I gently handed Kelly over to Lily. "I'm going to see if I can pick up a scent."

I quickly changed into the black dog and began sniffing around the office.

REMUS.

Sirius changed into the black dog and began sniffing around the office.

Kelly looked completely upset.

"Don't worry," I said reassuringly to her. "Dumbledore will be alright."

Lily helped Kelly drop to her knees and Kelly put a hand on Dumbledore's arm.

Sirius took off into the corridors next.

I had hoped he would be alright and not get seen by any of the students, especially during the day time.

Dumbledore let out moan and slowly began stirring.

"Sir? Are you alright?" I demanded as Lily and I helped him get to his feet and then we sat him in his chair behind the desk.

He rubbed the back of his head.

"What on earth happened?" he asked massaging the back of his head. There was a small cut back there.

"Someone knocked you over the head with a cane," Kelly replied still kneeling on the floor.

I helped her up and into a seat.

"What happened to you?" Dumbledore demanded, momentarily forgetting about what happened to himself.

"Someone put Tredno roots into her potion and it blinded her," Lily said.

"Why hadn't any of you come to me?" Dumbledore demanded angrily.

Lily and I looked at each other.

"We thought it was an accident," Lily said truthfully.

"I doubt very much it was an accident," Dumbledore replied. "The same as me getting hit over the head."


	10. Lily's Mishap

DAMASCUS GATE

CHAPTER TEN-LILY'S MISHAP

We left Dumbledore's office once he assured us that he was okay.

I carefully led Kelly out of the office.

"This sucks," Kelly moaned. "I hope my eyesight returns soon."

"Either way," Sirius said firmly. "We still care about you a lot."

"Exactly," Lily said firmly as well.

"Yep," I chimed in lastly.

"Look on the bright side," Sirius said deadpan. "At least you won't have to worry about seeing any of us nude."

We all moaned and continued on the way.

KELLY.

I clutched Remus' arm tightly as he led me down the corridor.

"What do we do now?" Lily asked.

"We take it easy and keep our eyes peeled," Sirius said.

"That sounds like a good idea," Remus said.

"Unfortunately, my eyes won't be peeled," I said.

There was a silence.

"Guys, I'm joking okay? Lighten up," I said chuckling.

I heard a chuckle from Remus and Sirius.

"We're in the common room now," Remus whispered close to my ear. I felt a tingle running down my spine.

"Thanks," I said gratefully.

He carefully set me down on the couch and I felt him sit next to me.

"I'm really curious as to see who's doing all of this," Lily mused.

"Dunno, but it's someone that obviously wants to hurt us," Sirius said seriously.

"Or hurt Remus," I added gravely.

I felt Remus' eyes on me.

"Well," he said finally. "I'm not going to let anyone hurt either of you."

"I'm pooped," Lily said yawning. "I'm heading to bed."

"Me too," Sirius said. "Are you coming Moony?"

"In a moment," Remus said.

I heard the others leaving the common room.

REMUS. 

Sirius and Lily had left the common room, leaving Kelly and I alone.

Kelly was staring straight a head. Her hands were clasped in her lap.

"I sense you wanted to talk to me," Kelly said softly. "Is that why you decided to stay?"

"Yeah," I said as I turned to her. I tucked one leg underneath me and rested my arm on the back of the couch behind her.

"Well, what is it?" Kelly asked.

I gently reached over and turned her face toward me. Her eyes stared at me but I knew she couldn't see me.

"I want to make sure you're alright," I said searching her face.

"Oh yeah," she said smiling. "I'm fine."

"Really?"

"Really," she said nodding feverishly.

"I'm here if you ever want to talk, okay?" I said gently.

"Sure," Kelly beamed.

To my surprise, she leaned forward. Our faces were inches apart. My heart began pounding in my chest.

"Can I give you a kiss as a 'thanks'?" she asked.

"Sure I guess."

"Great. You're going to have to help me here," Kelly said grinning.

"Right," I said.

I gently took her chin and directed her. I felt her lips gently touch mine as she kissed me lightly and gently before pulling back.

"'Night," she said as she got up.

"Need help to find your way to the girls' dorm?" I asked still tasting her lips on mine.

"Nope," Kelly said as she began carefully feeling her way to the dorm. Once she disappeared from sight, I flopped back down on the couch with a huge grin on my face.

Shortly, I too, headed to bed.

The next morning, we all met down at the Great Hall for breakfast.

Sirius was helping Kelly with her breakfast.

I took a seat in front of Kelly and next to Lily. Kelly and Sirius were sitting across from us.

"Morning," I said brightly.

Neither of them replied.

"What's wrong?" I demanded automatically looking from Kelly, to Sirius to Lily.

"Kelly had another nightmare," Lily said gravely.

"Oh no," I said concerned. "What happened in it?"

"Lily fell down stairs and she was killed," Kelly choked out.

"It was just…"

"A dream? Remus, the past two dreams have terrified me! Something is causing me to have them! There's a reason!" Kelly said interrupting me.

"But the other two didn't come true," I said reasonably reaching across the table and putting my hand over hers.

"Yet," Kelly said darkly. "There's no proof to say that they won't."

"Don't worry alright? We won't let Lily go down stairs or have her out of our sight at all. Okay?" Sirius said softly.

"Thanks," Kelly said as she looked a bit more relieved.

I helped myself to some pancakes and sausage and poured syrup over the pancakes.

I began eating.

"If I'm not going down stairs," Lily said frowning. "How do you suggest I get down to Potions? Fly?"

"Sure," Sirius said grinning. "You've got a broom why not?"

"What are you insinuating?" Lily demanded.

"Can't call you a witch 'cause you already are one," Sirius cracked.

Lily rolled her eyes scornfully.

"I'm sure it's nothing though," she said. "It was just a nightmare and Kelly said it herself…the others haven't come true yet."

"Yet," Kelly emphasized.

Lily just rolled her eyes again and got up from the table after finishing her breakfast.

"I'm going to the library," she announced. "I will meet you all for Charms."

With that, she got up and left the Great Hall.

Kelly exhaled loudly.

"I'm not saying that it may not come true," she replied. "I'm saying there's still a chance."

"I mean not to take sides or anything," I said slowly. "But what makes you sure that the first ones are going to come true now? Wouldn't they have already?"

Kelly turned her head slightly and her eyes narrowed.

"Because I'm getting a feeling alright? Something worse is going to happen…I can feel it,"

I studied her. She seemed genuinely spooked for some reason.

"Okay," I said quietly and softly. "We'll keep a close eye on Lily alright?"

Kelly nodded and Sirius continued to help her eat her breakfast.

I had really hoped her eyesight would return, not that I cared of course. I would still love her either way.

I had hoped she knew that.

After breakfast, we headed to the library. Lily was standing in front of a bookshelf, scanning the spines of books.

"Looking for anything in particular?" Sirius asked as we stepped closer.

"Yeah," Lily retorted. "I'm looking for a book on how to rid the school of _Jerkus Hanis_."

I chuckled, but quickly turned the chuckle into a cough.

Kelly leaned on me. I wrapped an arm around her waist for support.

"I'm touched," Sirius said mockingly placing a hand over his chest.

"So you admit you're a Jerkus Hanis?" Kelly asked grinning broadly. "You just insulted yourself, you fruit cake."

At that, we all laughed.

"Listen," I said checking my watch. "We still have about 15 minutes before class begins. Why don't we just wait here with you and head to Charms together?"

"Good idea," Lily said nodding.

I helped Kelly over to a table and we sat down. Sirius went over to the Herbology section and just scanned the book spines.

Lily was still looking for a particular book.

"I wonder what she's looking for?" Kelly mused.

"Dunno," I said shrugging my shoulder. "Can I tell you something?"

"Sure! Anything," Kelly said beaming.

I placed one of my hands over hers and our fingers interlocked.

"Even if your eyesight doesn't come back, I will still love you no matter what,"

"Oh Remus," Kelly said softly. "I know. I love you too…very much."

She gently slumped against me and I pressed my face into the top of her head. I then gently tilted her face up toward me and gave her a kiss. She kissed me back just as gently and softly.

Just as we pulled back from the kiss, Lily let out a scream. Immediately, Sirius and I's heads snapped toward her.

The bookshelf tilted forward dangerously and landed on top of her. Books spilled all over.

"LILY!" I cried.

"What? What's happening?" Kelly demanded alarmed looking around in panic.

I tore out of my seat and dropped to my knees beside the bookshelf, skidding a few inches on the polished floor.

Sirius was next to arrive.

Lily was lying on her stomach. The edge of the bookshelf was on top of her abdomen.

"Get help!" I said to Sirius.

Sirius scrambled to his feet and took off. Madam Pince had stepped out of the library for a moment.

A few minutes later, Sirius arrived with Professor McGonagall and Professor Dumbledore.

I felt Lily's wrist. She had a pulse, but it was faint.

"She's got a pulse, but it's weak," I said swallowing.

"WHAT'S GOING ON?" Kelly shouted slowly standing up.

"Tend to Miss Richards," Professor Dumbledore said kindly.

I reluctantly left Lily and went over to Kelly. I put both hands on Kelly's shoulders. She placed her hands on mine.

"Remus? What happened?" Kelly demanded.

"A bookcase fell on top of Lily," I said swallowing a lump of tears.

"Oh. My. God," Kelly breathed shocked.

Kelly began sobbing as I drew her into a hug. She pressed her face into my chest and cried.

Professor Dumbledore magicked the bookcase off of Lily and Professor McGonagall magicked her onto a stretcher. They headed to the hospital wing.

We followed close behind.

In the hospital wing, Madam Elkin gave her the drops for her eyes and Kelly was sitting on a cot. I was sitting down next to her.

Sirius was pacing the hospital wing.

"What on earth cause that shelf to fall over?" Professor McGonagall mused.

"It looked like it was pushed," I said blandly. "That's exactly what it looked like…right Sirius?"

Sirius nodded.

"But there was no one in the library except us," Sirius said wide-eyed.

Madam Elkin checked over Lily.

"Well," Madam Elkin said slowly. "She'll be alright…she's got a few broken ribs, a crushed left arm, some minor internal bleeding, but all fixable."

We breathed a sigh of relief.

"Thank God," Sirius said flopping down on the cot next to Kelly on her left side.

Kelly slumped against me. I wrapped my arm around her shoulders.

"You three are excused from classes for today," Professor Dumbledore said softly.

Madam Elkin ushered us out of the hospital wing and promised we can come and see Lily later on.

As we were walking back to the common room, Kelly suddenly cried out and dropped to her knees. Her eyes were shut.

"Kel?" I demanded crouching down in front of her.

"My eyes are burning!" she cried.

After a few moments, she opened her eyes.

"My eyesight came back!" she cried gleefully.

"Alright!" Sirius cheered.

Laughing happily, I pulled her to her feet and gave her a big hug. She jumped into my arms with her legs wrapping around my waist. I hugged her tightly.

I set her down.

"Thank Heavens I can see again!" Kelly cried happily.

KELLY.

I was so glad to be able to see again.

Remus was grinning broadly.

"Sirius won't have to help you eat now huh?" Remus said, turning to Sirius.

"The main thing is she can see," Sirius said. "She can also see my beautiful hiney."

He slapped himself on the rear-end.

"Aw man," I moaned. "I'm wishing I stayed blind!"

We laughed heartily.

"Listen, I'm going for a walk on the grounds," Sirius said. "It's cold yes, but I could use some cold air."

"Fine," Remus said nodding. "We'll meet you in the common room at 4 and then head to the hospital wing to check on Lily."

Sirius nodded and gave me a quick hug before taking off outside.

Remus and I headed to the common room, which was quiet since everyone was in their classes now.

The fire crackled softly and omitted a warm glow.

I sat down on the hearth rug in front of the fireplace and crossed my legs. Remus said down beside me, drawing his legs up to his chest and he rested his arms on top of his knees.

"I don't understand what happened in the library," he said slowly staring at the fire. "It certainly looked like someone pushed it. Those shelves just don't fall over by themselves. They're heavy."

"I know," I said quietly. "I just want Lily to be okay."

"She will be," Remus said reassuringly.

I laid back on the rug and folded my hand behind my head.

"What is going on here?" I mused staring up at the ceiling.

At that moment, Remus rolled over on top of me.

"I don't know," he said staring into my eyes. "But we will find out…I promise."

I smiled up at him.

He leaned down and kissed me. I kissed him back.

I began unbuckling the belt around his waist. He began slowly undressing me.

We were both completely naked. He pressed his hips against mine.

He moved so gently….


End file.
